London Is A Top Choice For North Americans
London continues to be one of the top destinations for global travellers, with the UK capital reporting its strongest hotel occupancy numbers and flight bookings since the pandemic.
The “it” destination celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this past spring with record crowds, top-notch entertainment and royal family sightings. Visitors from North America continue to outpace other international markets, ranking London among the top destinations on their travel bucket list.
According to the latest Traveler Insights Report from Expedia Group Media Solutions, London was the third most booked destination globally in Q2 and the second most booked international destination by North American travellers.
It also ranked as the number one booked destination for travellers from the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions [1].
Separate research from ForwardKeys reports that North American travellers are showing a strong appetite for visiting London this Autumn, with flight bookings up by 227% compared with the same time period last year.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations were a major draw for US visitors, with data from Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the group that oversees six royal palaces across London and the UK, revealing that visitors from the US made up 45% of total ticket sales for the iconic Tower of London in June, up 27% compared to pre-pandemic sales. [3]
According to STR data, London’s hotels saw their highest bookings in June 2022 since July 2019, with a reported 83.1% occupancy. [4]
The second half of 2022 is poised to continue to see strong visitor numbers from North America with lots of exciting events, festivals, exhibitions and cultural activities for visitors to look forward to.
Travellers to London will be able to enjoy cultural and sporting events such as Frieze London, NFL in London, the London Marathon, and concerts by major artists such as Drake, KISS and Swedish House Mafia.
Furthermore, London is set to welcome visitors to the city during the most festive time of the year, to partake in events such as Christmas at Kew, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, Hogwarts in the Snow at Warner Bros. Studio, the Great Christmas Pudding Race or shop at the many holiday markets and winter pop-ups around the city.
Laura Citron, CEO at London & Partners, which runs Visit London, said: “London has been brimming with energy and excitement and it’s fantastic to see visitors from all around the world returning to our city. So far, 2022 has been a massive year for London which saw us celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, as well as the return of major sporting events, festivals, theatre shows and our world-class museums and galleries. We’re seeing a huge pent-up demand for North American travellers to visit London this fall and winter, with lots of opportunities for visitors to enjoy some of our world leading cultural and festive activities for the rest of this year.”
Go to www.visitlondon.com for more.
[1] Q2 2022 Traveler Insights Report from Expedia Group Media Solutions. Based on more than 70 petabytes of exclusive Expedia Group first-party data and custom research
[2] ForwardKeys, July 2022
[3] Royal Historic Palaces visitor data. As featured in: https://www.ft.com/content/7e420e8f-ae6c-4809-a8ca-6ae7792fa260
[4] STR, July 2022
