News

LONDON TOURISM

struggles to recover from pandemic

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has redoubled his commitment to boost tourism in the capital as new data revealed visitor numbers to key London tourist hotspots are still below pre-pandemic levels.

Footfall in the heart of London’s

shopping, hospitality and theatre district – the West End – is 16% below pre-pandemic levels. While this has increased compared to March last year, the mayor has pledged to continue working alongside London’s businesses to bring tourists back to the capital.

In a keynote speech at London & Partners’ annual Tourism Means Business conference, Sadiq Khan addressed leaders from across the tourism sector about the power of collaboration and how they can work together to entice domestic and international tourists back to London.

Tourism plays a vital part in London’s social and economic life. It supports as many as one in seven jobs in the capital and contributes almost 12% of London’s GDP.

London is the third biggest driver for people visiting the UK and accounted for 53% of the UK’s international visits in 2019.

Sadiq Khan said: “While it’s promising to see more people visiting the heart of London, I know that it has been, and continues to be, a difficult time for the tourism sector in the capital, which is used to welcoming people from all over the world.

“I’m committed to doing everything I can to get London back on its feet after the pandemic, and I’ll continue to work alongside London’s businesses and tourism industry to encourage visitors back to our city. Now that restrictions for travellers coming to the UK have lifted, London is fully open once more, and our new £10m international tourism campaign will help to ensure we retake our place as one of the most visited cities in the world.”

£1.3bn of investment in

London’s small businesses

Some of London’s most well-known organisations have committed to supporting the city’s recovery from the pandemic by spending more than £1.3bn over the next five years on contracts with small businesses in the capital, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said.

By implementing changes to their

budgets and suppliers, 16 of London’s biggest organisations – known collectively as The Anchor Institutions’ Network – have pledged to spend up to 30%of their annual procurement on small businesses in the capital. Members include the Greater London Authority, NHS London, TfL, the Metropolitan Police and the University of London, and the strategy forms part of an initiative to accelerate London’s social and economic recovery from the pandemic.

A total of £125m has already been earmarked to support micro and small businesses, voluntary, community and social enterprises and local supply chains in 2022, with an additional £1.17bn anticipated across the next three to five years. Sadiq Khan said: “I’ve been working side-by-side with some of London’s largest institutions in this unprecedented partnership, ensuring that the collective impact of our procurement, hiring and estate decisions will contribute directly towards reducing poverty and inequality in our city. “I hope that the leadership shown by the Metropolitan Police, TfL, NHS London, the University of London and all of the other anchor institutions will encourage other organisations to join us in setting ambitious targets to help support a fair, green recovery from the pandemic.” NHS London is pledging to increase its annual spend with SMEs in London from 9% to 20%, representing an uplift of more than £312m to micro and small businesses, voluntary, community and social enterprises by the end of 2023.

NORTHERN LINE EXTENSION

proves popular with workers

Thousands of residents, workers and visitors are now using the new Northern Line Extension (NLE) at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms each week as the area develops into a vibrant district of London.

The two new step-free Zone 1 stations opened on September 20, 2021 following completion of a 3km twin tunnel rail extension from Kennington. Passengers can now use the tube to travel to and from Battersea and the West End in less than 15 minutes.

Since opening the line six months ago, Transport for London (TfL) is now recording around 60,000 passengers entering or exiting the new Battersea Power Station Underground station per week and around 30,000 entering or exiting Nine Elms per week, with numbers expected to grow as more homes and businesses open and London’s post-COVID recovery continues.

Rob Niven, TfL’s head of investment delivery planning, said: “It’s wonderful to see how popular the two new stations at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms have been in their first six months of operation. As London continues to recover from the pandemic and development in the Battersea and Nine Elms areas continues, we expect this number to keep growing. Extensions and improvements like this make a huge difference, and with sustained long-term funding we hope to be able to bring the tube network to new parts of the capital.”