What Britain really needs is more Americans

To walk through Leicester Square in central London is to endure a pummeling of the senses.

- Charlotte Lytton

Its jostling tourists, the glaring lights of its supersised casino and M&M's store, and a backing track of buskers' out-of-tune guitars put it among the worst places in one of the world’s best cities. The area also symbolises an inevitable truth about London: Without the thronging masses of tourists, and the attractions designed to amuse them, the city might disintegrate completely. Though most Londoners (this one included) would go to great lengths to avoid admitting it, the capital badly needs its millions of incomers each year. That's why a recent analysis showing tourism numbers are still down compared to the pre-COVID era is so alarming.

Most of the well-trodden world has recovered from pandemic closures. California's tourism economy, for instance, brought in $150 billion in 2023, surpassing its 2019 earnings; spending in Los Angeles was also up over the same period. But the city that calls itself “the greatest on Earth” appears to be losing visitors’ affections.