Comprehensive Report: London Tourism Market and Influencing Factors

This report provides a detailed analysis of the London tourism industry, examining its market potential, transport infrastructure, and accommodation development. It highlights London's appeal as a leading tourist destination, attracting millions of visitors annually due to its historical sites, cultural attractions, and vibrant atmosphere. The report delves into the city's advanced transport systems, including the London Underground and bus services, which facilitate easy access to various attractions. It also discusses the availability of diverse accommodation options, catering to different budgets and preferences. Furthermore, the paper touches upon the influence of social media on marketing and visitor experiences, concluding with an assessment of London's position as a premier tourist destination, considering potential crises and risks that may impact the industry. The report references several sources to support its findings, providing a well-rounded view of the factors contributing to London's success in the tourism sector.

Running head: LONDON TOURISM FACTORS
LONDON TOURISM FACTORS
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1. Introduction:
London has proved to be one of the leading tourist destinations in the world. This
particular city offers a great extent of famous tourist attractions. London attracts more than
twenty-six million domestic and international tourists each year which has made this city one
of the most visited places of the world (Uncsbrp.org 2018). People around the globe admire
the beauty of the city including its impressive monuments, rich and vibrant culture, appealing
heritage and the famous theatrical performances in its historic stages. Revenues generated by
the tourism of London comprise near about 10 per cent of the gross value added income of
the city. Moreover, this is estimated that the international tourists as well as visitors from
other UK countries visiting London spend roughly near £15 million annually. This numeral
includes all the aspects of London tourism industry that includes eating out,
accommodation, transportation and the attraction entrance charges. This paper analyses the
potentiality of the tourism market of the city, impact of most convincing transport systems,
availability of accommodation, potential crises and risks of the city tourism, influence of
social media on the marketing and visitor experience sectors to judge the current and future
position London as perfect tourist destination.
2.1 Tourism market potential:
London has been one of the greatest tourist attractions for the international tourists for
more than centuries. This city has a great potential to rise as the most attractive place to visit
in the UK. It has been servicing the tourists of various interests. The people with interest in
history would find this place to be most attractive, with palaces and museums. The rich
amalgamation of tradition and modernity has been embodied in this city. Moreover, the
tourists find the perfect blend of natural and artificial beauty in this city. Many of the tourists
visit the country to experience the air of monarchy detailed in the Buckingham palace. The

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most famous landmark of the city is the St. Paul’s Cathedral and British museum that attract
more than six million tourist visitors each year. The reason behind its popularity the Lindow
Man which is the oldest mummy of the world and the famous Rosetta Stone (Kim et al.
2017). Beside this, Victoria and Albert Museum is also a haven of intellectuals which is
actually the biggest of its kind in the world where the visitors do not have to buy tickets to
enter.
Many of the city’s attraction can be found along the banks of the river Thames. These
spots include the Tower of London, Big Ben, London Eye, Parliament House, Westminster
Abbey and Windsor castle. Tourists flock to admire the extraordinary Crown Jewels. The
Tower Bridge attracts huge number of tourists (Maitland and Newman 2014). In addition to
this, many visitors love to enjoy the river boat cruises which include luxurious experience of
interaction cuisines in the heart of the river Thames.
The literary lovers have been drawn towards the significant literary exhibits stored
inside the British Library that is located in Kings Cross. Here people find a large selection of
the original manuscripts of the world’s famous classics which include William Shakespeare's
autograph as well as the historical Magna Carta.
2.2 Transport development:
The advanced and most convincing transport system is one of the reason why the city
has successfully attracted the tourists all over the world. The London Underground namely
the tube is an extensive network of more than 10 lines that guarantees the visitor to reach
their destinations comfortably and quickly (Guidelondon.org.uk, 2018). The authorities keep
ion updating the passengers about the delays so that the visitors do not face any
inconvenience. This particular transport system offers the opportunity to visit any direction of
the city as they have Eastbound, Westbound, Northbound or Southbound stations and the

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tourists can find The Tube maps in the ticket counters. From this maps they will be able to
save time and money. The tickets of the tube are also very reasonable (Brown, G., Smith, A.
and Assaker, G., 2016). The tourist can contact to central information point for any kind of
emergency.
The bus system of this city is also very attractive. The tubes stations are in the gaps of
minimum walking distance but the places where the tube does not help, the bus system will
come to assist (Boes, Buhalis and Inversini 2016). The London bus service helps in visiting
the outskirts of London. This service offers a low-priced alternative to the budget conscious
tourists as well as who want to enjoy the beauty of London but not from the underground
Tube system. Most importantly, the visitors do not have to pay by cash as this system has
been abolished due to various reason. They can pay by different cards or passes. All the bus
stops are well sign posted for guiding the tourists. Each of these stops gives information
about other us destinations as well as alternative nearby stops. These bus system provides
24/7 services so that the visitors enjoy the beauty of London at night also.
The tourists can have experience of the heritage routs riding on old Route master red
London bus which is designed to imply the tradition and heritage of the city. In these busses
also the visitors can pay through bus passes, Oyster cards and travel cards. Various private
companies use this heritage bus system for London tours as well as entertaining their tourists.
Beside these, there are Docklands Light Railway and tram links that have direct connection
with the numerous tourist attractions in the central and eastern London. One of the most
attractive transportation system is the river services where the tourists avail the riverboat
services to reach their destinations along the river Thames. All these transportation systems
have quite reasonable fares so that the tourists can have a great vacation in London.
2.3 Accommodation development:

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Both quantitative and qualitative features of the accommodation directly influence
success of the tourism sector of London (Hughes and Scheyvens 2016). The planning of
tourism development in the city of London has supported the effective accommodation. This
particular factor has been stressed as one of the fundamental elements in their overall
destination planning process (Kiráľová and Pavlíčeka 2015). For the visitors who come for
sight-seeing of the city therefore, have great places to stay. The city has numerous hotels and
resorts that offer comfortable vacation rentals for the international tourists. Despite the fact
that this city has an abundance of attractive places in entirety but the tourists can find best
areas of their choice. Tourists can also rent apartments according to their budget and interests.
Most of the hotels can be found near the tube stations or the circle line of the underground for
convincing transportation. There has been a trend to reside near the tourist attractions
therefore the guests can rent apartments near Covent Garden, with great neighbourhood
eateries as well as stores.
Many of the tourists want to avoid the hubbub of the city therefore need to stay away
from the city buzz. The tourism industry has offered accommodation in the places like
Greenwich where the guests can enjoy natural beauty of the UK or the skyline of the city as
well as reach the main city within 20 minutes. These factors have greatly supported the city
tourism and attracted people of various interests and various nationalities.

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References:
Boes, K., Buhalis, D. and Inversini, A., 2016. Smart tourism destinations: ecosystems for
tourism destination competitiveness. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2(2), pp.108-
124.
Brown, G., Smith, A. and Assaker, G., 2016. Revisiting the host city: An empirical
examination of sport involvement, place attachment, event satisfaction and spectator
intentions at the London Olympics. Tourism management, 55, pp.160-172.
Guidelondon.org.uk (2018). Home - Guide London. [online] Guide London. Available at:
https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2018].
Hughes, E. and Scheyvens, R., 2016. Corporate social responsibility in tourism post-2015: A
development first approach. Tourism Geographies, 18(5), pp.469-482.
Kim, S.E., Lee, K.Y., Shin, S.I. and Yang, S.B., 2017. Effects of tourism information quality
in social media on destination image formation: The case of Sina Weibo. Information &
Management, 54(6), pp.687-702.
Kiráľová, A. and Pavlíčeka, A., 2015. Development of social media strategies in tourism
destination. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 175, pp.358-366.
Maitland, R. and Newman, P. eds., 2014. World tourism cities: Developing tourism off the
beaten track. Routledge.
Uncsbrp.org (2018). London's Tourism Industry. [online] Uncsbrp.org. Available at:
http://www.uncsbrp.org/tourism.htm [Accessed 29 Jan. 2018].