Tourist slump to last until 2003

Fewer foreign visitors are coming to London

The downturn in UK tourist industry is expected to continue into 2003, according to new figures.

A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research says that Britain is likely to receive 10% less foreign visitors this year than in 2000.

Visitor numbers will be also be down by 3% next year, the study adds.

Reports that UK tourism is in a slump are not new, but the length of the slowdown will cause concern for travel operators.

Industry job losses

Already the travel giant Thomas Cook has cut 1,500 jobs in the UK, 16% of its British workforce.

Thomas Cook has cut 1,500 jobs

"We are currently experiencing very tough market conditions," said chief executive Alan Stewart on Wednesday.

The recent study on tourism was commissioned by the Association of British Travel Agents and was released on Friday at the start of the association's annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

Part of the conference's agenda will be to look at the impact of the 11 September attacks on New York, and the subsequent war on terrorism.

Delegates will be discussing how the industry can rebuild consumer confidence.

'Not all doom and gloom'

ABTA's chief executive, Ian Reynolds, told the conference that "it's not all doom and gloom".

Tourism in the Middle East is suffering

"I think the UK will benefit from changing travel patterns with more people wanting to take a holiday at home," he added.

The number of UK residents travelling abroad will dip by 1.5% next year, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

"Clearly we have yet to see a real recovery in travel to the United States and the Middle East, but hopefully this will come later," said Mr Reynolds.

Slowdown

The study also found that tourism and travel would have been affected by the economic slowdown, regardless of the US attacks.

Britain's tourist industry grew by 33.5% from 1995 to 2000, said the report.

It had been expected to grow by another 16.7% from 2000 to 2005, but after the events of 11 September the figure has been revised down to 7.4%.