With the London Olympics now just round the corner, London is fervently making last minute preparations for what is to be one of the biggest events in city has ever hosted.

According to recent research, it is predicted that an onslaught of hundreds of thousands of extra visitors are to arrive in the capital during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, despite earlier perceptions that potential visitors or even Londoners themselves may be put off by the prospect of being so close to the Olympic Games and there might even be fewer coming to London than normal.

In a report published by market researchers at Forward Data, the number of tourists arriving in London during the Olympic and Paralympic Games looks set to rise by approximately 30% over previous years, which equates to some 250,000 extra visitors.

In preparation for the unprecedented increase in visitors to London this August and September, Heathrow Airport is to recruit almost 500 new passport checkers.

According to the UK Border Force, as part of a drive to reduce queues at the immigration desks at London’s busiest airport during the 2012 Games, extra Border Staff are being instated at Heathrow Airport, which is expected to take 80% of the Olympic tourism traffic

Although the athletes participating in the Games and Olympic officials will not have to worry about the potential queues at the airports, as they will be ushered through a special immigration section that is to feature more than 30 special security desks.

Heathrow officials are predicting that the busiest day will be on August 13, the day following the Olympic closing ceremony when 137,800 people are due to fly out of London.

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