London tourism after terror attacks, Grenfell Tower: What it's like to visit now

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This was published 6 years ago

London tourism after terror attacks, Grenfell Tower: What it's like to visit now

By Annie Dang
Young tourists take a group selfie in Parliament Square.

Young tourists take a group selfie in Parliament Square.Credit: Getty Images

I would be lying if I said I felt as safe travelling to London this year compared to when I last visited there in 2015.

At the time I boarded my flight from Sydney to London on June 2 there had been two attacks within months of each other – the Westminster attack on March 27 and Manchester on May 22.

I had been in London for less than eight hours when there was another attack, this time on London Bridge and Borough Markets.

An armed British police officer patrols in Horse Guards Parade.

An armed British police officer patrols in Horse Guards Parade.Credit: Bloomberg

On the night of the Borough Markets attack, I was to dine with friends at a restaurant in Borough Markets. But we were unable to get a booking so, instead, we decided to head for dinner and drinks in Soho, a traditionally trendy spot for a Saturday night out in the British capital.

By 9pm, jet-lag hit and my friends suggested we go home. Had the night continued, we could have made our way south of London Bridge to Borough Markets, one of the oldest markets in London, and I would have found myself in a wholly different situation.

I was already asleep when three men drove a van into London Bridge and then headed for Borough Markets. Sirens roared throughout the city, waking me up to the devastating and frightening news, which as a traveller, I had contemplated and feared, and which has now become a reality for the modern traveller.

Tourists gather on The Mall in view of Buckingham Palace the day after the London Bridge terror attack.

Tourists gather on The Mall in view of Buckingham Palace the day after the London Bridge terror attack.Credit: Bloomberg

The mood in London the next day was sombre. People still pursued their Sunday activities, jogging, lying in parks and drinking in bars. But there was still a sense of a city waking up dazed with continuous news coverage of the attacks.

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In the days and weeks that followed during my holiday, this mighty city was hit by a catastrophic fire that exposed class and social divisions in London society, more than terror attacks are capable of.

The cauldron that Grenfell Tower became changed the mood of this city that has, until now, been so strong and stoic in the face of terror. That, along with news that a van drove into people outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, further exposed those deep divisions.

In the aftermath of these events, security around London is, not surprisingly, tighter. There is a greater police presence and people are told to be more alert even to loud sounds.

I changed my plans and decided not to visit London Bridge and Westminster following the June 3 attack. I had wanted to visit these great British attractions that had long been tourist drawcards, but also to pay respect for those who lost their lives in the April attack.

It would have been the same case for Borough Markets, and I would have skipped that too, but my friends are still keen to try out that restaurant they are never able to get a booking at. In true Londoner style, they're reluctant to change their day-to-day lives.

But as tourist, I'm content to give it a miss and find other attractions and places to see and explore on this trip. As a visitor, I have the choice, a privilege really, to alter my travels as I deem fit in order to stay safe. I could easily choose not to return to London again, but like so many Australians who travel here, I have dear friends who live in London.

But for Londoners there isn't really any way to avoid certain parts of the city, to avoid crowds, to avoid public transport, this is their home.

I'll fly out of London in just over a week, having not seen many of the attractions I had planned to visit. I'll leave in the knowledge that London through the centuries has survived and prospered in the face of disasters and assaults such as the plague, the London fire, the bombings during World War Two, the IRA attacks and now a chain of terrorist events.

Annie Dang is a travel writer and producer for traveller.com.au who has been holidaying in Britain and Europe. The Australia government's safety advice for travellers to Britain is to exercise normal safety precautions. For more details visit smartraveller.gov.au

Britain tourism resilient despite terror attacks

Britain's tourism industry is proving resilient despite recent terrorist attacks and is set for a higher number of bookings this year, outperforming the European average.

Travel data analysis company ForwardKeys said bookings for international arrivals were up 12 per cent compared with the previous year as of June 17.

The figures were more positive than for the rest of Europe, which averages bookings 7.8 per cent higher than this time in 2016.

The latest numbers for Australian visitors to Britain from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show an increase of nearly 40 per cent during the past 10 years, from 422,600 in 2006 to 587,600 last year.

British police are on high alert after a man drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four, and then stabbed a policeman to death in the grounds of parliament in March.

That attack was followed by a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, which killed 22, and a deadly attack on London Bridge this month.

ForwardKeys' data was from before an attack on worshippers near a north London mosque on Monday.

ForwardKeys said there was no wave of cancellations of bookings following the London Bridge attack.

While an extremely strong start to the year had slowed following each attack, the firm said other factors, such as a blockade on Qatar, could be having an effect.

"One needs to bear in mind that even though we have seen something of a slowdown in bookings for the UK in recent weeks, the forward booking situation for July and August remains extremely healthy," ForwardKeys chief executive Olivier Jager said on Thursday.

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