Beyond the Pandemic: London Tourism Braces for Slow Recovery

England s top paid attraction, which normally draws more than 3 million visitors a year, has been closed for all but a dozen weeks since the pandemic began and international tourism to London came to an almost-complete standstill.

Release time : 2021-04-14 14:27:09

source : Associated Press

employs one in seven workers in the capital, the pandemic has been a body blow. With hotels, attractions and leisure shopping in a near-total shutdown, the industry's contribution to London's economy plunged from $21.6 billion in 2019 to just $4.1 billion in the past year, according to VisitBritain, the national tourism agency.

Even national treasures like the Tower of London have struggled. Historic Royal Palaces, a charity that runs the Tower and other heritage attractions, has said it expected a $137 million shortfall because of Covid-19.

Many expect a slow recovery, particularly because London always has been reliant on international tourism. Over half of all consumer spending in the West End -- home to the city center's bustling shops, restaurants, pubs and theaters -- typically comes from European and other overseas visitors.

In normal times, short-haul markets like European countries would generally be expected to recover faster than long-haul ones like the U.S. and Asia. But with the threat of coronavirus variants in Europe and the slow vaccine rollout on the continent, experts say tourists are highly unlikely to return in earnest until autumn.

"We can see that other countries, particularly our European neighbors who tend to be the biggest markets for us, we can see them going into third waves of Covid," said Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communications at VisitBritain. "There is pent-up demand, people do want to come to Britain. But at the moment, that simply isn't possible."

Nationally, officials forecast inbound tourism to generate just over $8.2 billion this year, compared with more than $38 billion in 2019. Heathrow Airport has said it does not expect passenger flows to return to 2019 levels until around 2024.

A key question for the recovery this year is whether cumbersome quarantine rules can be eased and replaced by an efficient system of vaccine certificates for travelers, Yates added.

Stuart