The mere expectation that he would participate in next month's Hawaii Ironman championship in Kona started people booking hotel rooms as early as March.

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The project has already seen great success since it launched, with rooms booking up quickly.

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The service is currently booking same day rooms with 300 hotels in 18 cities, but looks to expand to ten additional cities in the coming months.

FORBES: Connect

Downloaded three million times since it debuted in 2011, it is the most popular of the same-day booking apps, with rooms available from noon, local time, daily.

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Accessibility will also be improved and information systems, ticket machines, waiting rooms, car parks and booking offices upgraded.

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Nigel Pocklington of Hotels.com, an online booking service, says demand for London rooms during the games is weaker than anticipated and prices have fallen by 25% in the past four weeks alone.

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He told MPs that a "tranche" of hotel rooms had recently been made available after the cancellation of a block-booking by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog).

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