Visitor downturnLondon's thriving tourist industry was bracing itself for a slump following the attacks with analysts saying the bombings were likely to deter high-spending US visitors from travelling to the country.
Coming only a day after London's victory in the bidding for the 2012 Olympics, which sent leisure stocks rising, yesterday's bombs sent shares tumbling across the sector.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks shares in British Airways were down more than 9 per cent. Shares in Hilton fell more than 7 per cent while shares in First Choice, the tour operator, were down more than 8 per cent. However, companies across the sector clawed back most of the losses in later trading.
The 9/11 attacks were devastating for international tourism and hospitality businesses with many companies forced to shed thousands of jobs. Yesterday's attacks came after London's tourist economy had recovered most of the ground lost in the wake of 9/11.
London was the top destination for all cities for overseas visitors in 2003, drawing in 11.7 million visitors compared with the 8.1 million for Paris and 7 million for Hong Kong.
