Tourism decline 'worse than feared'

THE TOURISM industry across the country suffered its worst-ever slump in foreign visitors last year, new figures have revealed. The first full report on tourism's disastrous 2001 showed a 16% drop in overseas visitors nationwide, to 21.2m people.

Half of all tourists pass through London, and the figures from the British Incoming Tour Operators Association suggest last year was even worse for the capital than was previously believed.

A drop of between 9% and 14% had been predicted by the London Tourist Board, producing an estimated fall in spending by visitors of £1bn to £1.5bn. That figure may have to be revised after the new report, the first to cover the entire 12-month period.

Richard Tobias, the association's chief executive, said the figures reflected the impact of foot-and-mouth disease, the strong pound and the 11 September attacks and made 'grim reading'.

A continuing major concern was over the lack of high-spending American and Japanese visitors. Tobias said: 'Things are still a bit shaky but we expect a steady improvement during this year, particularly as 2002 is the Queen's Golden Jubilee year. The Americans and the Japanese, in particular, are not coming over in large numbers and we need to encourage more long-haul travel to Britain.'

The latest figures underline the huge task facing London's tourism industry as it tries to encourage overseas visitors back to the capital. A £500,000 marketing drive was launched by the London Tourist Board recently.

Thousands of jobs depend on the recovery of a vital sector of the capital's economy, which employs 275,000 people and generates £8bn a year. Mayor Ken Livingstone has put together a £4m rescue package, including discounted accommodation deals, through his London Tourism Recovery Group.

A £5m 'UKOK' campaign aims to recover at least half of the £1bn lost to London's tourist businesses - and £2bn nationally. Celebrations surrounding the Queen's Golden Jubilee will spearhead the campaign.

However, recent research by the group showed that 70% of London's tourism businesses are still experiencing a downturn in trading of up to 25% on the figures for 2000 .

Tobias said numbers had held up fairly well in the first two months of 2001 compared with the same periods in 2000, but that the foot-and-mouth outbreak had had 'a dramatic impact on visitor arrivals'. He added: 'However, by August, as the number of new [foot-and-mouth] cases declined, Britain's tourism industry was beginning to recover.

'Sadly, the events of 11 September put paid to the improvement, with that month recording the worst set of numbers since the outbreak of the Gulf War.'

Visitor numbers were down by a quarter of a million in the second half of September alone, with the whole of the month and October easily the worst period of the year.