2012 Olympics visitors make £40m for London

Tourism chiefs say London has made almost £40million from an increase in sports and business events in the run-up to 2012.

Improvements to transport and accommodation linked to the Games have resulted in a surge of bookings, said Visit London.

The group has calculated the value in hotel takings and visitor spending of bookings they say are related to being a host city. These include Sport Accord 2011, the world's largest sports congress, set to bring in £2.4million and the 52-nation World Skills Competition in 2011 to promote vocational training, expected to generate £29 million.

Organisers of trade conferences have also told Visit London they chose the capital because it was gearing up for an Olympics.