Grand Departs wins tourism award

Transport for London has won the Visit London Sports Tourism Award for its delivery of the Grand Départ of the 2007 Tour de France. The Tour de France began in the UK for the first time in its 100 year history on 6,7 and 8 July 2007.

The award came the day after TfL announced that the Tour de France weekend brought an estimated £88 million in economic benefit to London and Kent.

The Tour de France also gave London and cycling a huge media profile.
London was heralded as a great venue for world-class events in media around the world, generating an estimated value of £35 million in coverage.

An estimated two million spectators from London, the UK and overseas lined the Capital's streets during the Grand Départ weekend. London has also seen a 10.5 per cent increase in the number of people cycling on London's major roads in the six months from April to September compared with the same period last year - an estimated 48,000 more cycle journeys everyday.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: "London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, and his team at Transport for London deserve the
plaudits for what was a brilliantly organised event. Two million people
lined the Capital's streets during the weekend, many of them visitors from overseas and from other parts of the UK. They were given a great welcome by the capital and a fantastic weekend's entertainment.

"The success of the Tour de France shows the economic benefits that these types of event can bring to London. The Tour has generated well over £100 million in spending and publicity, which will in turn attract more visitors and encourage the organisers of future sporting events to choose London.
Transport for London has already opened negotiations to bring this great race back to London - I hope before 2012."

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, said: "The main reasons we brought the Tour to London were to boost the number of people cycling in the Capital and to promote London as a visitor destination. We did just that.
London's iconic sites were shown around the World and the tourism benefits will be seen for years to come."

The Tour de France was brought to London and Kent by the Mayor of London and TfL, with the support of the London Development Agency, Visit London, Metropolitan Police, The Royal Parks British Cycling, Sport England, UK Sport, Kent County Council, South East England Development Agency, Canterbury City Council and Medway Council.

Website - www.tfl.gov.uk