Hosted in London in 2012, the Olympics have been the largest grossing in ticket sales for the past 12 years. With 18,200 ground troops backed by 20,000 or more private guards. However, in 2008, Beijing had five times the amount of passengers expected to use public transportation.
In London, security recruitment failed and they failed to inform officials until only two weeks before the start of the Olympics. G4S encountered serious difficulties in processing applications and stood to lose between 35 million pounds and 50 million pounds on the contract, which is worth 300 million pounds. Around 4,000 people already working across 100 venues, with a further 9,000 people going through the final stages of training and accreditation. Forcing the Government to call in an additional 4,700 soldiers and police from various forces to fill these gaps. The number of security personnel will now total 40,000 people.
Do you love sports and athletics and want to travel out of the country to be a part of the Olympics? Be prepared for a wait. Some passengers having to wait 2-3 hours in immigration alone. Heathrow anticipates 217,000 passengers at its busiest. With this being said, it is 47,000 more than the average day at the airport.
Image via: jamaica-gleaner.com
It’s always incredible to see how a city transforms to accommodate and successfully host the Olympics. This year’s no exception.