The terrorist bombing attacks on London's transport network in July 2005 may be the reason for a decline in last year's visits by overseas residents to Britain, and in particular London, provisional figures revealed.
According to the data published by the government's Office for National Statistics, there was a 2 per cent fall, to 3.7 million, in the number of visits to London between July and September -- the third quarter of 2005 -- compared with the same quarter of 2004.
And while visits to Britain as a whole did not fall in the same July to September period, they only increased by a slim 4 per cent compared with year-on-year increases of 14 per cent in the first quarter of the year and 12 per cent in the second quarter of April to June 2005.
On July 7, four British-born Muslim suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 others, injuring hundreds more, on three subway trains and a bus; an incident which was mirrored unsuccessfully two weeks later and is widely thought to have deterred many people from making unnecessary visits to the capital.
A breakdown of the statistics show that in the crucial period of July to September when London was in the aftermath of, and recovering from, the terror incident, visits by Japanese nationals to Britain decreased by 17,000 compared to the same period the previous year, down to 101,000 from 118, 000 visits.
{{/usCountry}}A breakdown of the statistics show that in the crucial period of July to September when London was in the aftermath of, and recovering from, the terror incident, visits by Japanese nationals to Britain decreased by 17,000 compared to the same period the previous year, down to 101,000 from 118, 000 visits.
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