Lastminute reports bookings slump
Lastminute.com has admitted its hotel and theatre ticket sales have slumped in the wake of the London bombings with outbound travel from the capital also affected.
West End sales plummeted 36% over the weekend compared to the previous week with overall year on year theatre ticket sales down 25%, the online retailer said.
Hotel bookings for July and August dropped 15% – at a time when they were expected to grow by the same figure – while holiday sales on Friday “completely fell away” before recovering on Saturday and Sunday.
Despite the poor sales, head of global hotels Mark Maddock predicted demand would quickly pick-up.
“We have witnessed a significant downturn in London which is only to be expected in light of recent events,” he said. “However, we are confident that things will pick up again fairly swiftly as consumer confidence returns.
“We fully expect demand for hotel rooms to be at least on a par with last year.”
Head of theatre Mark Bower said he expects West End shows to drop prices to stimulate demand.
“There is level of defiance in the air,” he said. “Producers are determined not to let fear of terrorism govern our lives and are likely to reduce tickets to send a clear message to everyone that the show will go on.”
Report by Steve Jones
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