There are encouraging signs that London is likely to see a significant increase in long-haul visitors throughout 2022.
Research undertaken by online travel agency Opodo showed London ranked second behind Paris as the most popular destination globally for bookings in 2022. The survey consisted of 10,000 people in the UK, Europe and the USA. Despite the restrictions of the pandemic, it appears that the appetite for international travel has remained buoyant.
After a couple of tough years, this is a welcome boost to an industry that has seen foreign tourism reduce by 90%. In 2019 the capital attracted 21.7 million foreign visitors, with inbound spending at approximately £15.7 billion. While there has been an increase in domestic travel in 2020/21, this has failed to fill the international spending gap.
In another positive development, from the start of November, the UK is changing its COVID regulations, making testing more straightforward and cheaper for foreign visitors. Here at Certa Service, along with the rest of the hospitality industry, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for increased visitors and better times ahead in 2022.