The FINANCIAL — The prospect of a busy London Olympics and high room rates has prompted a 95% slump in inbound leisure tourism bookings to London in 2012, according to a survey by the European Tour Operators Association.
It warned that £3.5b of business could be lost to the British economy as a whole if the UK as a whole suffered an equivalent decline.
The ETOA canvassed 38 operators who move more than two million people annually to London, which revealed expectations of a significant downturn throughout 2012.
It said the downturn would be "extremely severe" in July and August, where operators are currently seeing a 60% shortfall in bookings for London, becoming acute in the during the period of the Olympic Games where bookings are running at 95% below normal. Bookings for the rest of the year are running at 20% below this time last year.
