Overseas travellers were being cautious about booking trips to the UK even before the July 7 terrorist bombings in London.
Figures from UKinbound for June show that forward bookings were just 0.7% against 3.1% in May. Visitor numbers in June were up by a healthly 5.8% over June 2004 to produce an average growth rate in the first half of the year of 4.7%.
But the organisation, which represents almost 300 inbound companies, suggested that there was an increasing trend towards even-later bookings and warned of a “very lean autumn” for inbound tourism due to a weak dollar and higher prices caused by rising oil costs.
Concern about terrorism created more potential difficulties for the industry, although UKinbound said: “This is a unique situation and we cannot assess the true impact by comparing what happened in London to other terrorist incidents.”
But the trade body admitted: “The events of the last few weeks and the frenetic media coverage that continues to dominate the news is having a significant impact on how London, and indeed the UK, is perceived abroad.
“In some markets it is producing a defiance that mirros the response of London itself whilst in others there are concerns about travel to the UK.”
Report by Phil Davies
