Shops in London are struggling to capitalise on a post-Covid uplift in travel, due to the scrapping of VAT-free shopping.
Tourists from the United States and the Gulf region reduced their spending in the West End by 1% and 17%, respectively, in the three months to June compared with the same period in 2019, according to research by the New West End Company.
This is despite flight bookings from these regions rising by 17% and 7% against the second quarter of 2019.
During the same period, spending by US visitors rose by 183% in France and by 174% in Spain, with tourists from the Gulf spending 118% extra in France and 112% more in Italy.
