Domestic tourists stay out of hotels

London enjoyed a boom in overnight visitors from the rest of the UK last year, but most stayed with friends and relatives rather than book into hotels.

London Tourist Board figures show that the volume of UK visitors to the capital increased by 28% in 1999, from 11.6 million in 1998 to 14.8 million, far ahead of the estimated 11.9 million.

The biggest rise in visitor numbers was among those lodging with friends and relatives, up by 27% to account for 10.6 million visitors, or 72% of the total.

However, hotels did see a 16% rise in domestic customers, which the LTB said helped to offset a small fall in overseas tourist numbers, deterred by the strong pound, and also helped keep occupancy levels stable.

Tourism Concern, which monitors the impact of tourism on local populations, said London was well able to absorb large influxes of tourists with minimum irritation to local people.

But director Trisha Barnett said London's tourism growth should be made to benefit local people more. She feared that the LTB's bid to boost hotel bedroom numbers by 10,000 this year would benefit "honeypot areas" rather than Londoners, and believed that more support should be given to locals to develop B&B businesses.

However, a spokeswoman for the LTB said that the board had successfully promoted attractions and hotels outside the city centre, and advised boroughs such as Richmond and Greenwich, which held regular seminars on how to set up B&B businesses.

www.londontouristboard.co.uk

by Angela Frewin