LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) – Tube trips are surprisingly
easy, shopping on the high street is down in central London,
hotel bookings and prices are off their peak, while theatres and
London cafes suffer the Olympic effect.

Economists have long warned that the Olympics may not
provide much of a boost at this stage for Britain’s
recession-hit economy as most of the construction work and
investment has been done in the run-up to the Games. Now, early
evidence appears to be bearing this out.

LONDON (Reuters) – Visitors to the London Olympics stood in queues for hours, begged for information and tramped from one box office to another on Tuesday as organizers put unused tickets on sale to avoid the embarrassment of empty seats.

Big gaps at many venues in seating areas reserved for Games officials, their friends and family have infuriated thousands of fans who tried desperately but failed to get tickets under a complex ballot system.

LONDON (Reuters) – Visitors to the Olympic Park in east London on Tuesday stood in queues for hours, begged for information on ticket resales and tramped from one box office to another on the day Britain’s Olympic Association demanded the IOC fix its ticketing system.

Many park guides were not sure exactly how it works, but canny sports fans in the park discovered that box offices at the basketball arena were selling available recycled tickets for basketball and hockey sessions and the ticket office at the Copperbox may sell recycled seats for handball and water polo.

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) – Visitors to the Olympic Park in
east London on Tuesday stood in queues for hours, begged for
information on ticket resales and tramped from one box office to
another on the day Britain’s Olympic Association demanded the
IOC fix its ticketing system.

Many park guides were not sure exactly how it works, but
canny sports fans in the park discovered that box offices at the
basketball arena were selling available recycled tickets for
basketball and hockey sessions and the ticket office at the
Copperbox may sell recycled seats for handball and water polo.

LONDON (Reuters) – Olympic organizers scrambled on Sunday to quell a backlash over depressing TV images of half-empty stands at the London Olympics as a government minister said an urgent inquiry had been launched to identify just who had failed to show up and why.

Sports fans from all over Britain who had been charmed by the Olympic publicity offensive but let down by a complex ballot system for the 8.8 million tickets, have been outraged by footage of empty seats at key venues including Wimbledon, one of the hottest tickets in world tennis.

LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth’s virtuoso performance as the “Bond girl” star of the Olympic opening ceremony crowns a majestic 15-year special operation that has recast the monarch as the people’s champion of a cool Britannia.

Escorted by James Bond, played by actor Daniel Craig, in a helicopter gliding over a cheering London, the 86-year-old queen was shown apparently leaping out with a Union Jack parachute for an Olympic arrival to trump all others.

LONDON (Reuters) – Olympic organizers scrambled on Sunday to quell a backlash over depressing TV images of half-empty stands at the London Olympics as a government minister said an urgent inquiry had been launched to identify just who had failed to show up, and why.

Sports fans from all over Britain who had been charmed by the Olympic publicity offensive, but were let down by a complex ballot system for the 8.8 million tickets, have been outraged by footage of empty seats at key venues including Wimbledon – one of the hottest tickets in world tennis.

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) – Olympic organisers scrambled on
Sunday to quell a backlash over depressing TV images of
half-empty stands at the London Olympics as a government
minister said an urgent inquiry had been launched to identify
just who had failed to show up, and why.

Sports fans from all over Britain who had been charmed by
the Olympic publicity offensive, but were let down by a complex
ballot system for the 8.8 million tickets, have been outraged by
footage of empty seats at key venues including Wimbledon – one
of the hottest tickets in world tennis.

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) – Olympic organisers scrambled on
Sunday to quell a scandal over depressing TV images of
half-empty stands at the London Olympics as a government
minister said an urgent inquiry had been launched to identify
just who had failed to show up, and why.

Fans from all over Britain who had been charmed by the
Olympic publicity offensive, but were let down by a complex
ballot system, were outraged by footage of empty seats at key
venues including Wimbledon – one of the hottest tickets in world
tennis.

LONDON (Reuters) – Olympic organizers scrambled on Sunday to quell a scandal over depressing TV images of half-empty stands at the London Olympics as a government minister said an urgent inquiry had been launched to identify just who had failed to show up, and why.

Fans from all over Briton who had been charmed by the Olympic publicity offensive, but were let down by a complex ballot system, were outraged by footage of empty seats at key venues including Wimbledon – one of the hottest tickets in world tennis.