Tours Of London More Popular Than Ever

The volume of UK tourists visiting London seems to be growing as many budget conscious holiday makers are chosing to holiday closer to home rather than go abroad as the global recession bites into holiday savings.

Whilst the worlds financial woes have largely affected all kinds of holiday sales including both domestic and overseas holiday destinations, London seems to have benefitted in terms of an increase in UK citizens visiting its attractions.

Graham Powell of London tours company, Country Travel Tours, says: “We’ve definitely noticed an increase in demand for our London tour guide service and more than ever our customers are UK residents, many even local to London.

As well as an increase in London tours, London’s museums and galleries have reported increases in visitor numbers. This trend can be seen throughout the rest of the UK and believed to be a side effect of a decrease in people’s disposable income and a view that a cheap or sometimes even free visit to the local art gallery museum is a good alternative to an expensive night out on the tiles.

One interesting twist on this apparent good news is that most London hotels are reporting declining occupancy levels which would seem to contradict any apparent influx in domestic visitors to London. However many believe that this is simply indicative of the nature of the visits to London. Graham Powell explains: “What we have been seeing is more day trippers coming to London rather than say week long holiday makers using our London tour service. Also a lot of people tell us they are staying with relatives either in or close to London as opposed to booking paid accommodation in the city.”

London tour guides guides and museums aside, for many suffering business reliant on tourism in London the 2012 Olympics cant come soon enough.