Heathrow Airport Hotels

By Chris Linch

While the number of people traveling to and from Heathrow Airport have increased, the hotels space around the airport has not kept up with the growth. Because of the lack of hotel rooms close to the airport, Lord Laidlaw has decided to collaborate with the construction company Rokeby Development on a 70 million pound project that will create two new hotels. Laidlaw, one of Scotland's richest men, has planned a 600 room hotel connected to Terminal 5 and another hotel close by.

Because of the sheer numbers of people passing through the airport, there is always a shortage of hotel rooms in the area. This concern was expressed and Lord Laidlaw and Rokeby Developments decided to work on remedying the problem. Terminal 5, the first of the two new hotels to open, will help the area move toward a time where there is not a lack of available hotel rooms. Lord Laidlaw and Rokeby Developments believe that with the completion of their projects, there will be no shortages. Even when Terminal 5 is fully operational, however, there will still be a need for more rooms due to the increasing numbers of people traveling through Heathrow.

Terminal 5 has great potential to improve many aspects of the area around Heathrow. Not only will there be a potential improvement of infrastructure for the capital as people are able to stay close to the airport, there will also likely be an increase in tourism in the area as people will spend less time traveling to their accommodations and more will have more time to sight see. People coming to London for the 2012 Olympics will likely enjoy staying so close to the airport because of their intention to attend Olympic related events and not travel about the country. These hotels will be a timely addition to address the competitive market that will arise as people travel to London for this event.

London is one of the top destinations for international travel. 2006 was a record year for overseas visitors to London and hotels in the area have had their strongest performance levels since the late'90s. Due to the current market for hotel accommodations in the area, Lord Laidlaw and Rokeby Developments are very likely to have success with their hotel ventures.

Due to the increase in passengers, increased accommodations are necessary. Expansion in areas such as parking, new flights, and new hotels are likely to spark debates between the airport and anti-expansion groups such as HASAN. However, the airport must expand to meet the demands of their customers. If the airport were dealing with, for example, an extra 80,000 passengers per day, it would be necessary to increase accommodations like parking for those travelers.

The new terminal has greatly increased the capacity of Heathrow. When the 4.2 billion pound new terminal opened in March 2008, the capacity of the airport increased by 30 million passengers a year, taking the total number of passengers to 90 million. There are several things that are going to have to happen as a result of the increased number of travelers, not just an increase in the number of hotels. Transportation links are a necessity, including trains, buses, and Heathrow Airport London parking. - 30214

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