London Grows in Popularity

PHOTO: The Beaumont is now welcoming visitors in Mayfair.

In December, the Paddington Bear movie hit cinemas throughout the U.S., and London & Partners (L&P), the public and private agency that promotes London, hopes to follow the little Peruvian bear to his honey pots. Paddington should make the British capital more baby friendly just in time for the second royal baby who is due in April. Not only babies have noticed a more welcoming atmosphere in London in recent years. One benefit of the 2012 Olympic Games was that it fueled London’s leap in the biannual Anholt-GfK City Brands Index (CBI) to number-one from three in 2011. A big part of that leap is attributed to an increase in how visitors evaluate the hospitality of London, an area it had been weak in previously.

Last November, Deloitte predicted that London’s tourism would grow exponentially over the next decade and that by 2025 would earn $120 billion or about 12.8 percent of the city’s GDP. London expects more than 2 million visitors this fall, about 80 percent of them, according to Mastercard, attracted by the city’s cultural treasures.

This fall’s arts scene will see classic canvases of Turner at Tate Britain; Constable at the Victoria & Albert; Rembrandt at the National Gallery; and Ming Dynasty treasures at the British Museum. The largest-ever exhibition of British First World War art will be on display at the Imperial War Museum. Sherlock Holmes is “The man who never lived and who will never die,” at the Museum of London’s exploration of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective.

“Theater is such a great attraction because it refreshes itself and never gets tired,” said L&P’s Louise Maher. “It’s a constantly self-renewing attraction.” New plays this fall include “Shakespeare in Love” at Noël Coward Theatre; Harold Pinter’s “Sunny Afternoon;” “The Scottsboro Boys” at the Garrick; “Memphis” at the Shaftesbury Theatre; “Made In Dagenham” at the Adelphi; “King Charles III” at Wyndham’s Theatre; “Electra” at the Old Vic; “Speed-The-Plow” at the Playhouse Theatre; and “East Is East” at Trafalgar Studios. With an average ticket price of $43.28, theater remains one of the city’s most affordable and popular attractions for tourists. Last year, London’s 241 theaters attracted more than 22 million people and took in $964.25 million, more than was taken in by London cinemas.

PHOTO: London & Partners hopes Paddington will lead many visitors along his trail in London. Photo courtesy of Adam Sorenson.

L&P’s Paddington Trail tracks the bear’s favorite London places. The campaign also raises money to protect British children threatened by domestic violence. Fifty Paddington Bear statues will be placed at landmark attractions throughout London. The three-foot six-inch statues will be auctioned later in the year to raise money for children. The film will showcase many of the trail locations including his first port of entry — Paddington station.

Royal Welcome

American fascination with British royalty is a major draw. Buckingham Palace was at the top of what Americans wanted to see in Britain. Other popular royal sites include Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle (the Queen’s weekend palace), the Royal Mews (where the Queen’s horses are kept), Kensington Palace (the last home of Princess Diana), and the Tower of London (where many queens met their untimely deaths).

“The Tower of London is our biggest attraction,” said Ann Wilson, head of sales for Historic Royal Palaces, consortia of castles and palaces. “The Tower gets 3.4 million visitors per year, about 26 percent of them from the U.S.”

London Pass recently revealed the sightseeing choices of card users over the course of a year. The pass’ smartcard technology showed that in 2013, 23.7 percent of all visits to sites with royal connections (including Windsor Castle and Kensington Palace) were made by Americans.

William and Kate’s Royal Wedding brought 600,000 visitors to Buckingham Palace just to see her wedding dress. Britain’s Centre for Retail Research estimated that the first Royal Baby boosted retail sales by about £243 million thanks to the sales of baby-related souvenirs. The second child should add more momentum to what looks like an already strong 2015.

Since 2011, American London Pass holders have grown their visits to royal attractions by more than 4 percent. The data also showed that Americans were more likely to wander well beyond city center. A third of all visits to Hampton Court Palace, a quarter of visits to Windsor Castle, and almost 25 percent of visits to Chislehurst Caves in Kent were made by Americans.

Americans are in-depth sightseers, visiting fewer attractions than visitors from other nations (an average of just 1.39 attraction visits per pass per day compared to German pass holders who visited on average 1.72 attractions per pass per day, or French pass holders who visited 1.78 attractions per day). Taking their time to really explore and understand their chosen attractions, 76 percent of Americans bought longer-duration London Passes for either three days or six days, rather than the one-day or two-day options.

Some 888,246 ceramic poppies are being installed at the Tower of London to commemorate the British forces that died during World War I. In September, Second Lady Jill Biden planted one of the poppies emphasizing the shared history between the U.S. and the U.K. Sites related to the World Wars were popular with American London Pass Holders. About 24 percent of visits to the pass’ six World War attractions (HMS Belfast, the Imperial War Museum, the Firepower Royal Artillery Museum, the Jewish Museum and the Royal Air Force Museum) are by U.S. visitors.

New Hotels

London just two years removed from its Olympics continues to open new hotels. Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, top restaurateurs in London, got into the hotel business this October, with the opening of the 73-room Beaumont in Mayfair. Millennium’s Chelsea Harbour Hotel, opened recently with 158 suites, each individually designed. The 38-room Cliveden House in Berkshire, about 20 minutes from London’s Heathrow Airport, gives travelers a new five-star hotel on 400 acres of National Trust gardens and woodland. The 256-room Conrad London St. James opened in Westminster within walking distance of Buckingham Palace.

The173-room London EDITION in Fitzrovia was created from the former Berners Hotel. EDITION is a boutique brand conceived by Ian Schrager in partnership with Marriott International. The 359-room Mondrian London at Sea Containers on the capital’s South Bank, is the first Mondrian-branded boutique hotel outside of the U.S. In June, Dorsett Hospitality International soft opened its first hotel in Europe, the 317-room Dorsett Shepherds Bush in West London, not far from Europe’s largest urban shopping center, the Westfield Shopping Center.

The 91-room Ham Yard Hotel in Soho is centered by a public square, home to five massive oaks, a bronze sculpture by Tony Cragg and 13 handpicked specialty shops. Brands invited to retail in the space include Bloomsbury Flowers and Australian homeware & jewelers, Dinosaur Designs.

More properties are coming, including Belmond’s 64-room Cadogan (2016); the Hilton London Bankside (2015); and a property being planned by Peninsula Hotels in the Belgravia section of the city near Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace.