Trade reaction to ‘ghastly’ Westminster attack
Tom Jenkins, CEO of the European Tour Operators Association, shares his thoughts on the likely impact of yesterday’s terror attack in London.
"I think it’s far too early to tell at the moment what the reaction is going to be but this is clearly not good news. We are still in the main booking period for people thinking about going on holiday and those in long-haul markets will be reacting with natural trepidation to the news, and that is has impacted visitors.
What happened was ghastly. It was a violent attack and a major new story. It is devastating that an unarmed policeman and pedestrians were killed and injured. But in terms of people’s safety, and in terms of how London functions for visitors, almost nothing has changed. Barring the immediate vicinity of Westminster, London is functioning entirely normally.
The terror threat hasn’t changed. There is a heightened police presence throughout central London and particularly in the Westminster area to reassure people and maintain a calm and ordered atmosphere.
The intentional nature of this incident makes it newsworthy. It does not make the UK any less safe. Britain happens to be one of the safest places in the world to travel on the roads, or be a pedestrian, and it will continue to be one of the safest places to be a visitor.
After the terror attacks on July 7 2005 there was a slight downturn in bookings, but left to themselves markets are becoming resilient to this sort of incident. People are getting better at judging the threat that they pose. What we cannot control is how governments choose to react to what is a nugatory threat."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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