The number of international visitors to London has surpassed the 19 million mark for the very first time in a record year for tourism in this part of the world.
The total number of tourists had increased by 2.6% from 18.6 million to 19.1 million. And, a strong 8% surge had been witnessed in the last three months of 2016, as per the official statistics from the Office for National Statistics. The tourism experts stated that the decline in the value of the pounds following the Brexit referendum in June had gone a long way in making the capital more interesting as a destination for tourists.
But then, the spending on hotels, other tourist attractions and restaurants has been slightly down over the year at £11.9 billion even though it was up during the initial quarter of last year.
Ever since the Olympics as well as the Paralympics of 2012, the tourist numbers have steadily improved in London as compared to the rest of the world. Right now, the annual visits hover around 25% higher than it was, five years ago.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London said that he was overjoyed since a large number of people are making a beeline for the city of London and choosing to explore its manifold theatres, shops, restaurants, museums and so on. He added that this further proves that London is open and possess a unique appeal that easily extends throughout the globe.
And, some of the important events that has enabled the boost of regional tourism in London include the Great Fire 350 that witnessed several thousands of queuing the River Thames to catch a glimpse of the replica City of London.
Popular among the tourists were some blockbuster exhibitions including David Hockney at the Royal Academy and EXHIBITIONISM at the Saatchi Gallery.
Some of the museums have also observed record number of tourist arrivals.
And, interestingly, this growth trend of tourism continues well into 2017 as revealed by the data from Forward Keys that is a company that records overseas travel agent bookings to London. It has declared that there has been a 10% rise in overseas tourists coming to London in the first six months of 2017.
