(Picture: Jeremy Selwyn/Evening Standard/e)
London business chiefs have demanded a massive drive by the Government and City Hall to put the capital back on the global tourism map after two lost years wrecked by the pandemic.
The number of foreigners visiting London has fallen by more than 90 per cent since the details of the coronavirus first began to hit headlines in 2020.
The stayaway has had a devastating impact on London’s hotels, restaurants, shops and airports which are heavily dependent on their spending.
Now businesses say the removal of the last Covid testing rules for people arriving in England next month provides the perfect opportunity to reboot tourism. They are calling for a series of measures, including the return of tax-free shopping for tourists and a streamlining of the visa system.
Alexander Jan, chief executive of the London business group Central District Alliance, said: “The pandemic has traumatised people’s experience of international travelling so... it would be hugely beneficial to have a big campaign from City Hall to welcome people back to London and the rest of the UK.”
Brian Bickell, head of West End property company Shaftesbury, said: “Fundamental to the post-pandemic recovery is for the Government to put the UK back on the global stage... in the face of strong competition from other cities that may be easier to access and have more tourism investment.
“A key starting point would be to simplify and streamline the visitor visa application process.” The last major Covid-era disincentives to visiting the UK falls away on February 11, when fully vaccinated visitors no longer have to take a lateral flow test within two days of arriving.
In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, London attracted 21.7 million foreigners who spent a total of £15.7 billion, according to the Office for National Statistics. This fell by around three quarters in 2020, and in the first half of 2021, the whole of the UK only attracted 472,000 people from abroad. Data from travel analysts ForwardKeys suggest bookings for the first three months of 2022 are currently down 74 per cent on 2019.
Sadiq Khan’s tourism promotion body VisitLondon is planning a campaign in the spring. It believes London has a good story to tell with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Uefa Women’s Euro 2022 tournament in July, the Abba Voyage concerts at a new venue in the Olympic Park in May and Adele’s shows at the British Summer Time festival in July, as well as the Van Gogh Self-Portraits show at Somerset House from February and the Notting Hill Carnival.
But there are fears that the agency’s £4 million a year marketing budget will be heavily outgunned by big city rivals such as New York, which last week announced a $30 million (£22.4 million) campaign provisionally titled “NYC Reawakens”.
Helen Brocklebank, chief executive of luxury brands trade body Walpole, said: “There are some really practical things that will help like making visas really easy... The lack of tax free shopping in London is another big issue.”
A spokesman for London & Partners which runs VisitLondon said: “As part of plans to encourage international visitors back, London & Partners, the Mayor, and the wider tourism industry will launch an international tourism campaign in spring 2022.”
