Recent research by City Hall has revealed that international tourism is surging this year in London.
Potentially surpassing the record numbers seen in 2019, two million more international visitors are forecast to arrive in London in 2023, compared with last year. This is projected to produce an extra £674 million in revenue.
This was also corroborated by a report from Visit Britain, which estimated that London’s attractions in 2022 enjoyed a 141 per cent rise in visitor numbers compared with 2021 – by far the highest growth seen in any UK region.
From this rise in visitors, the data estimates that the Mayor and GLA’s “Let’s Do London” campaign — London’s largest ever domestic and international campaign, which the BID is a key funder of — is separately thought to have brought in an extra £346 million and 850,000 more overnight visitors to the city.
The Let’s Do London campaign emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recognised need for collective partnership working to help inspire visitors to return to London. The BID was part of this process from its inception, and in 2023, the BID has co-invested with Merlin Entertainments in the campaign to ensure South Bank continues to receives a high level of visibility across the campaign assets – you can see examples of these here.
Anecdotally through speaking to businesses we have heard positive reports of the return of global visitors, but we’re always keen to hear further from levy payers as to what they are experiencing, so that the BID can help support or feed perspectives back to wider Central London groups. If you would like to share your insight as a levy payer, please get in touch at BID@southbanklondon.com.
