UK tries to lure back American tourists

The United Kingdom’s most lucrative tourist market is from the United States, with Americans leaving about $6 billion dollars behind on their UK holidays. But this year has seen a drop in the amount of American tourists jetting over the pond to merry old Blighty. The first six months of 2007 saw 6% less Yankees landing in Britain than 2006, which was a comparatively good year drawing 13% more tourists than the year before that.

VisitBritain claims the 6% drop in tourists in the first quarter of 2007 is due to the plummeting exchange rate between the greenback and the pound, with one pound costing about 2 dollars, This deterrent has American tourists opting for more exotic destinations where they can get more bang for their buck.

Another factor reported as keeping potential tourists form landing in London is the chaos of Heathrow Airport. With the endless queues and security checks, many Americans can’t be bothered.

Some flight schedules are even being cut back due to the drop in interst for flights from the US to the UK.