Brexit has caused a drop in bookings to London and the UK, but an even bigger fall in Brits booking to go abroad, according to an online travel agent.
Tripsta, which claims to be one of Europe’s top five OTAs and the largest in South East Europe, said the political event had an immediate, detrimental impact on both inbound and outbound bookings.
It claimed European travel bookings to the UK capital and the UK dropped 28% and 27% respectively on June 24, the day the Brexit decision was announced.
During the two weeks that followed, the fall-off continued with London bookings down 35% on the same period in 2015.
But the impact on outbound bookings was even more significant, with bookings down 90% on June 24 and 69% in the two weeks that followed.
"The Brexit watchword has been uncertainty," said Tripsta CEO Philipp Brinkmann.
"This has left its mark on the stock market and we can see from our booking data that it is also impacting the UK, and especially London, as a travel destination.
"We serve millions of Europeans everyday and this is a significant drop in demand for London as a destination, which we see as perennially popular with our customers.
"This is not due to a new Brexit-inspired xenophobia, but a country in the midst of seismic political change is not appealing from a destination marketing point of view.
"We are confident travel to the UK and London will thrive again, but it is crucial stability is regained as soon as possible to minimise the damage done to the UK’s tourism industry.
" In terms of any wider impact on UK outbound travel, last minute flight bookings for the 2016 summer season will prove to be a key indicator."
