Visitors return to London attractions

Visitor numbers at London's key attractions have begun to recover after a dramatic fall following July's bomb attacks.

During September, visits to London attractions were between ten and 15 per cent down on the yearly average, data published by Visit London shows.

But this is a major improvement on figures for August – the month following the July 7th bomb attacks and further attempted attacks on July 21st – when visits to London attractions decreased by 24.5 per cent.

The steepest decline was experienced by free and large attractions, while smaller attractions witnessed only modest declines in visitor numbers.

Visit London business analyst Jamie Talmage said: "Whilst significantly down in August, every indication suggests that visitors have begun returning to London's attractions in September."

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last week show that overall visits to the UK fell by two per cent in the three months to August 2005.

But they were still 10 per cent higher than for the same period last year, indicating that tourists have not been put off by the London bombings.

Meanwhile, a new survey shows that London continues to be the top visitor destination for US tourists – ahead of Paris and Rome.

Data released by Hotels.com shows that one in three overseas visits by US tourists during the last 12 months was to London.