London hits tourism slump
2012-10-10 11:52
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2012-08-02 09:39
Boris Johnson decided to celebrate London's first gold medal on the 2012 Olympic Games zip line in Victoria Park. It didn't end well.WATCH
Despite the Olympic boost and being named "Europe's leading city break destination" by the World Travel Awards, London suffered one of their worst summers ever.
Wanderlust reports that the wet weather and Olympic bustle seem to have deterred travellers from visiting some of the UK capital's favourite attractions.
An average decrease in visitors of 15% was reported from May to August this year, compared to figures from the same months in 2011.
The Gardens and Leisure sector, including popular attractions such as London Zoo and Kew Gardens, saw the biggest fall in visitors with 21.3%. While the Heritage and Cathedrales sector, including Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral, dipped by just over 20%.
Association of Leading Visitor Attraction (ALVA) Chief executive Bernard Donoghue said: "For London attractions the Olympic period was one of their worst trading periods in living memory."
A report by the Office for National Statistics revealed there were 3.18 million trips made to Britain from overseas this July, compared with 3.36 million in July 2011.
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