Hotels, bars and restaurants in London have been tipped to play a leading role in driving the UK economy out of recession, with this both creating thousands of new jobs as well as numerous opportunities for those looking to put money into hospitality sector property.

While growth in the UK economy as a whole remains sluggish, a spate of news reports indicate that the national hospitality sector is bucking the trend, with hoteliers in particular reporting renewed optimism.

According to a study published by Oxford Economics in partnership with the British Hospitality Association (BHA), tens of thousands of new jobs are set to be created by the sector's growth over the next few years.

Notably, this will go hand-in-hand with the construction and opening of new properties, including hotels and restaurants, again spelling good news for investors keen to tap into this potential.

The newly-published report highlights the importance of the next few months to the general wellbeing of not just the hospitality sector but of the UK economy as a whole.

In particular, it is widely-anticipated that the 2012 London Olympics, as well as the Queen's Golden Jubilee, which will be celebrated next year also, will go a long way towards placing the country firmly on the road to economic recovery, just as prime minister David Cameron noted back in the summer of 2010.

Illustrating the extent to which opportunities for property investment in hotels have picked up over recent months, the study found that more than 50 new hotels have been opened in Wales since 2000, with these creating thousands of people, generating millions for the Welsh economy and potentially helping to generate significant returns for investors.

Such a sense of optimism is supported by a separate report, this one the Hospitality Employment Index published by Caterer.com and People 1st.

According to the duo's joint research, the number of new jobs being created in the sector is growing at its fastest rate for more than two years right now, with the upcoming Olympics again being cited as the main driver of this trend.

Notably, releasing their findings, the pair state that such an upturn in employment opportunities is perhaps the strongest signal yet that the hospitality sector is bucking the national economic trend and going from strength to strength in the face of a possible double-dip recession.

Meanwhile, the UK culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has revealed that the government is in talks with the hospitality sector over the possibility of offering Britons discounted rates in hotels, bars and restaurants in London for the duration of the 2012 Games in order to prevent a mass exodus out of the country next summer.