Legoland owner Merlin shrugs off visitors drop after London attacks

The chief executive of Legoland and Madame Tussauds owner Merlin has forecast that the capital’s visitor numbers will not recover from 2017’s terror attacks until at least the second half of this year.

Nick Varney said: “London is still down. We saw an instant hit to our visitor numbers [after the attacks] in line with the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions saying that London was down 17%. It doesn’t just bounce back immediately.”

Despite bad weather in Europe and the terror attacks in Britain, Merlin managed to increase total visitor numbers during 2017 to a record 66 million and delivered a 9.5% increase in core earnings, having lowered expectations with a profit warning last October.

Pre-tax profits rose by 4.8% to £271 million, on revenues up 11.6% to £1.6 billion.

However, the Midway attractions — including Alton Towers and the London Eye — saw a 5.5% fall in earnings and a 1.2% fall in revenues.

Legoland, the company’s star performer around the world, seemed immune to the problems with revenue up 18.2%.

Merlin denied that its plan to invest more in back office systems, tech and e-ticketing would lead to job cuts.

But Varney, who is also chairman of the British Hospitality Association, said that the UK government must stop piling costs on businesses, and he warned that it could lead to the return of youth unemployment.