The weak pound is outweighing any impact of the recent terror attacks in London, according to the latest data from ForwardKeys.
Based on the analysis of 16 million booking transactions a day, forward bookings for long-haul international arrivals in London are 14% ahead of where they were at the beginning of July last year.
For London arrivals between July 1 and October 31, the Americas are currently 21% ahead and Asia Pacific 14% ahead.
Only the Middle East is lagging behind (by 20%), which ForwardKeys attributes to a fall in the oil price and the timing of Ramadan, which fell earlier this year.
It says tourists are flocking to the UK capital because, on average, it’s now 9% better value.
The growth in bookings is impressive because, when benchmarked against its European competitor cities, London has the biggest market share of long-haul bookings for arrival between July and October, 12%, as against 9% for Paris and 7% for Rome.
"This is an obvious and clear demonstration of how currency fluctuations affect travel, even in the face of other significant factors," said Olivier Jager, ForwardKeys co-founder and CEO,
"London is great value at the moment and people are springing at the opportunity for a holiday, costing less than they might have anticipated. It’s also testimony to London’s appeal as a destination and excellent news for all those businesses involved in selling London and the rest of the UK as a destination."
