Hostelworld fills up in London despite Westminster terror attack

Hostelworld: The accomodation website, advertised by actor Charlie Sheen, has not seen trading drop since the March Westminster terror attack

Joanna Hodgson

28 March 2017

Tourists have not been put off coming to London since the Westminster attack last week, the boss of online firm Hostelworld said on Tuesday.

Feargal Mooney said: “Londoners are determined to not let it impact their way of life. Tourists have seen that and still want to visit.”

Mooney said the hostels firm had not seen “any particular impact” on trading since Khalid Masood’s attack last Wednesday, which killed four people.

But the firm admitted the spate of global terror attacks had hit trading last year.

Overall bookings dipped 1% last year because of “softer demand in European destinations as a result of geopolitical events”, including the Brussels attacks last March. That caused sales to drop to €80.5 million (£69.5 million) from £83.5 million.

But the firm praised performance at its flagship Hostelworld brand, which is being advertised by actor Charlie Sheen. It represented 87% of total group bookings, up from 73%.

Pre-tax profit increased by 65% to €133,000 at the firm which has around 200 London hostels on its books.

Shares rose 5% to 255p. They floated at 185p in October 2015.

Numis analyst Tim Barrett said: “Disrupted travel made for a challenging 2016 but, in our view, management negotiated a tricky period well.”

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Hostelworld fills up in London despite Westminster terror attack

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