Tourism In London Might Return To Pre-Pandemic Levels Only After 2025 - Mayor

Tourism in London might not recover to its pre-coronavirus scale until the mid-2020s, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Thursday, urging the government to come up with a package of support measures for the affected businesses

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2022) Tourism in London might not recover to its pre-coronavirus scale until the mid-2020s, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Thursday, urging the government to come up with a package of support measures for the affected businesses.

"It is estimated that it could take until at least 2025 for domestic and international overnight visitor numbers to return to the levels seen in 2019, with spending predicted to take until 2026 to surpass pre-pandemic levels," the London government said in a statement, citing an analysis published by Khan.

The London mayor called on the British government to take "meaningful action" to prevent job losses and help residents overcome financial hardships inflicted by COVID-19.

"I have committed to doing everything I can to support London's economic recovery now, and in the years to come. But the stark reality is that these sectors won't be able to sustain pre-pandemic levels of employment until tourists return in significant numbers," Khan said.

In 2019, London recorded 147.4 million overnight stays by tourists with total spending of 18.8 billion Pounds ($25.6 billion), and in 2021, the number of overnight visits was more than twice as small as before the pandemic, amounting to 60.8 million. Last year, tourists spent 3.8 billion pounds in London, the mayor said.

On Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who found himself under fire by his own Conservative party for attending a party on Downing Street during lockdown, said the latest package of restrictions, imposed in December due to the Omicron variant, will be lifted next week. This will cancel the face mask mandate, COVID-19 passports in certain public spaces, and the recommendation to work from home.