Riots pose ‘no long-term impact on London’s tourism’, says ETOA
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) has said it expects there to be no damage to London’s tourism prospects in the long-term despite the high media coverage surrounding this week’s riots. Tourist attractions and the majority of central London has been left untouched by looters and violence in the last four days and ETOA said that other cities had seen similar disruption. “Events like these have occurred in Western cities such as LA, Madrid and Paris. Those in the UK are abnormal, and so newsworthy, even this August. But they have been largely confined to secondary shopping centres in the suburbs. No iconic landmarks have been affected,” ETOA said in a statement. “So long as the damage is contained outside of central London, then there will be little long-term impact on demand for London as a tourist destination”. In addition the association, which has openly criticised London’s hosting of the Olympic games, said it was unlikely that the riots would affect the games next year. “The Olympics is, overwhelmingly, a domestic event. British people won’t be put off from visiting the Olympics in Stratford because a year earlier shop windows were broken in Hackney,” said Tom Jenkins, executive director at ETOA. The association also praised the police for showing ‘restraint’ and ‘care for human life over that of property’ during the riots.
Comments are closed.