It's an exciting time for Weymouth with lots of schemes planned to boost the resort and make it fit for the future.

But this is not a town without its challenges with traders reporting lower-than-usual visitor numbers and anti-social behaviour. Others point to the lack of parking and general look of the town as reasons why it might not be doing as well as it deserves to.

This week, the Dorset Echo is taking an in-depth look at what the future holds for Weymouth.

Today, reporter Sam Beamish examines the legacy left by the 2012 Olympic Games.

Weymouth and Portland are still seeing the benefits of the Olympics, it has been claimed.

While the much-criticised transport system – which saw roundabouts replaced by traffic lights to try and improve traffic flows – continues to prove unpopular with many local drivers, tourism chiefs and experts suggest the borough has and continues to reap the benefits, after the Games helped to showcase the area to the world.

And there’s a ‘hidden legacy’ which has supported businesses The Olympic sailing events were held off Weymouth and Portland more than five years ago, in which time the borough has seen a boost to tourism.

Immediately after the Games there was a 26 per cent increase in holiday bookings and Weymouth was one of the most searched destinations in the south west.

Around 8,000 more visitors sough tourist information in Weymouth in 2013 compared to the year before.

Although no latest figures are available, local tourism chiefs claim increasing numbers are visiting, helped in part by the borough hosting the Olympics and being shown on TV screens across the globe. Coupled with world events and the threat of terrorism abroad, more people ‘staycating’ and accolades such as Weymouth being voted the top beach, and the draw of the Jurassic Coast, the borough is becoming a sough-after destination.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council Tourism and Culture spokesman Cllr Richard Kosior, said he thought the Olympics had helped to put Weymouth and Portland ‘on the map.’ He said: “Off the back of the Olympics more visitors are keen to visit the town and we are seeing visitors from further wanting to visit places like Weymouth and Portland for their holidays.

“The legacy of the Olympics is that it helped to put Weymouth and Portland on the map.”

He added: “We now have a lot of events which attract people to the town – just look at the last seafood festival, it attracted a phenomenal turnout.

“The town has also been used by the film industry, most recently for Dunkirk and we have more interest on the way.”

An estimated 840,000 visitors were expected during the Olympics, however, according to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, which calculated crowd numbers using CCTV and other assessments, 500,000 people visited during the Games.

Despite this, the area has benefited from tourism projects including the £1m refurbishment of the Chesil Beach Visitor Centre in 2013 and sustainability projects including the 2015 Portland in Peril Project which saw £1m donated to restore 200 hectares of limestone grassland in Portland.

The Weymouth Sport and Wellbeing Festival has also been held since 2012 and was inspired by the Games.

Hidden Legacy

Peter Allam, Chief Executive of Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, described a ‘hidden legacy’ left by the Olympic Games, which has helped to improve the relationships between local businesses.

He said: “I believe there is a hidden Olympic legacy in terms of the sheer number of agencies that were involved in delivering the Olympics and level of co-operation between them which we are still seeing now.”

Mr Allam also explained how the Olympics helped to attract visitors and boost the reputation of the academy.

He said: “We host international sailing events every year and we are fortunate that many of those attending come because such a great job was done during the Olympics, and they know they will get a great sail on the Olympic waters.

“We were worried of a fall in business after the Olympics. We were concerned it would take time to build the business but we have been delighted with how many people want to come and sail.

“We get a few visitors from outside of the sport who know the Olympics took place here and come to have a look.”

New Direction

Roy Griffiths of Headwater Holidays said the town has had to ‘up its game since the Olympics.’ He added: “People want to come away feeling like they are getting good value for their money and that they are getting 10 per cent more than they expect when visiting the area.

“To me the Olympics proved what a fantastic area this is for activities but I’ve also felt for a long time that the area needs to market itself properly, like through fantastic walks or bike rides along the coast and water activities.”

Mr Griffiths was also positive that the Olympics have helped to boost the town’s tourism.

He said: “I don’t think we could have had any better advertisement than the Olympics. The Jurassic Coast looks absolutely stunning on TV, which means people are more willing to try Dorset as a holiday destination in the future.

I think now we are starting to see the benefit of the Olympics and it has taken a couple of years to come through. The town is doing better than other seaside resorts, we are too hard on ourselves. We just need to up our offer a bit.”

Mr Griffiths helped to organise the Big Dorset Outdoor Weekend, and said the town needs to offer activity holiday packages.

He said: “I think people are a little bit fed up of sitting on the beach, that was a 70s and 80s thing to do, now holidaymakers want to be busy with activities on their holidays.

“People love holiday packages and this is another thing Weymouth needs to do. If a hotel specialises in something people will buy into that. We have seen that people buy into packages.”

Tomorrow, we look at the challenges facing accommodation providers in the tourism industry.