The number of foreign tourists visiting London has recovered to pre-September 11 levels, according to numbers from visit london.
The figures released today showed there were 13.4 million overseas visitors to London last year - up 14.5% on 2003. This not only surpass the 13.1 million in 2000, it marks the best figure since the recent record year of 1997.
The increasing numbers of budget flights mean that the Continental market remains the largest for London, with 6.5 million travelling from within the European Union to London in 2004 - up 800,000 on 2003. There was also a huge influx from Russia, with year-on-year numbers rising 35% to 341,000 people.
A significant part of the increase was in US tourists too, with 200,000 more Americans visiting the capital than in 2004 (a total of 2.8 million). But the number of US tourists to London is still 100,000 down on 2000, prior to the terrorist attacks which saw a huge downturn in air travel worldwide.
But the capital has struggled to attract a growing number of domestic visitors. Visit London blames this on weak consumer confidence. About 14 million British visitors came to London last year - the same as last year, and 4.5 million fewer than in 2000.
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