Tourism Set to Rebound Quickly from London Bombings

According to British tourism authorities, London is quickly returning to normal following the bomb attacks on July 7 which left more than 50 people dead and 700 injured.

As of today, nearly 90 per cent of the London underground (subway) infrastructure is back in operation -although certain lines remain suspended- and leisure industry experts have begun to assess the impact of the attacks.

The hospitality sector was rocked by a number of media reports alleging that certain hotel groups had tripled room prices as people stranded in London in the aftermath of the bombings sought accommodation.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Crisis Committee, convened to discuss the London events and the potential repercussion in the UK, unanimously agreed that early indications showed the impact on the UK´s travel and tourism industry would be limited.

The council estimated that, post-attack, UK visitor arrivals could decline by approximately 590,000 from previously forecast levels of almost 31 million, representing a decline of 1.9 per cent.

Personal travel and tourism by UK residents could decline by £2.3 billion –a loss of 2.3 percent from previously forecast levels of £102 billion– while the travel and tourism industry´s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may decrease by up to 1.5 percent, or £1.9 billion.

“Assuming that no further events take place, it is expected that the impact of the London bombing, much like that realised by the Madrid and Bali bombings, will continue into 2006, but will have completely dissipated by 2007,” WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten, said.