Is London Able To Satisfy Tourists? by Ian Ogden

Is London able to satisfy tourists?

The latest statistics show that whilst overseas visitors to London rate their visit very highly, they are not as complimentary about the cost of their hotel accommodation.

The figures produced by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) for 2008 show that attractions such as museums, galleries and parks rate very high, the hotel sector is letting down the overall appeal of London tourism due to the lower than expected quality of accommodation which attracted a level of “good” rather than “very good” or “excellent”. The cost of the accommodation also fell short of other aspects of the visit to London by scoring “fair+”.

Whilst fair and good may sound acceptable, they lag behind most other aspects of the visitor’s trip to London, the notable exception being cleanliness.

Surprisingly, only 37% of overseas visitors require a hotel or bed and breakfast for their stay with the rest using friends, relatives and any other means to save money.

The survey produced some interesting results by overseas visitors:

Arrival: 71% arrive by train, 7% by air and a staggering 14% by car

Accommodation: overseas visitors costs an average of £52 per person per night

Food: visitors spend an average of £36 per day on food and drink

Travel: visitors spend and average of £16 on travel

Shopping: the average daily spend is £46

Areas: 29% visit Camden

Reason: 40% made the decision to visit because of London’s history and heritage

Overall the survey results are good but the Mayor needs to send a warning massage to hotels to up their customer service levels. Price issues have to some extent been rectified by the current economic climate and also ad hoc events such as Swine fever which have caused lower than expected levels of accommodation and a consequent price adjustment to entice visitors.

However there are still too many so called “cheap” hotels which have no regard for the client’s wellbeing or satisfaction. London has no official hotel rating system. The number of stars a hotel advertises only provides a rough guide of the accommodation standard, cleanliness, ambience, hospitality, service and food. The higher the number of stars then the higher the level of quality. The Managing Director of http://www.London-Hotels.co.uk commented “ It is time that the mayor introduced a compulsory rating system so that tourists have a better conception of what they are buying without seeing. We receive too many complaints from clients who have experienced bad service or poor value for money in a London hotel“

About The Author

Ian Ogden was a member of the http://hotel-assist.com team until going to live in Dubai where he writes and travels.