The Olympics – would you rather jet off abroad?

TUI Travel claims to have received more early bookings for summer 2012 than it has for this year’s peak season, even though rising fuel costs have made holidays more expensive.

TUI’s distribution director, Nick Longman, comments:

‘Summer 2012 holidays only went on sale a couple of weeks ago, but the high season is already selling very well and bookings have surpassed our expectations. It will be interesting to see what happens next month when people see what [Olympic] tickets they get.’

Perhaps those who couldn’t afford a holiday this year have booked up early for the next, just to make sure they can get cheap early tickets. Or perhaps some people – especially those in London – would rather not be around when the Games kick off?

TUI admits it’s too early to know how well the season will sell overall, but it seems fair to say that it’s unlikely people are cancelling their holiday plans to stay home and watch the Olympics.

Should you stay or should you go?

In a recent poll for news site London24.com, almost two thirds of the respondents predicted that the capital’s transport network would be ‘a complete disaster’ during the Games.

And in April, a report by the London Assembly’s Transport Committee warned that the transport network is already close to capacity, even before millions of spectators, athletes and officials descend on the city. Transport for London has said it’ll be ‘business as usual’ during the event, but clearly there’s still work to be done if things are to run smoothly.

Seeing the Olympic Games on home soil is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and die-hard sports fans will definitely not want to miss out. But as these early holiday bookings suggest, plenty of us would still rather spend the summer abroad.

Would you consider going abroad during the London 2012 Olympics? Or is it a silly idea when there’s such an exciting event happening at home?