Number of visitors to London rose in June.

Like Paris, Amsterdam and, more recently, Moscow, London is one of the most popular city destinations for holidaymakers, business travellers and language students. It is no surprise that London is now among the ten most visited capitals in Europe. According to recent press releases from London’s tourism office, visitor numbers at London’s attractions and sights had already risen in June this year compared with September 2009. The tourism office says this was the highest percentage growth rate ever recorded.

As in Germany, monitoring agencies are commissioned to collect statistical data through sample surveys over a suitable period, which is then compared with equivalent data from the previous year. In this case, 34 attractions and sights familiar to most holidaymakers were included. Visitor numbers at London’s sights and attractions rose by 6.3% compared with the previous year.

This success is welcome, as disruptions to air travel caused by the ash cloud over Europe in May sent the otherwise high quarterly figures for the spring plummeting, so to speak. The particularly strong growth in June 2010 compared with September 2009 is therefore especially encouraging. This means that at least some of the losses from the spring can be made up, the press release goes on to say.

Samples were taken at well-known London attractions and sights, including the Churchill Museum & Cabinet Room, the London Eye, the Florence Nightingale Museum, the Greenwich National Maritime Museum, and the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, to name just a few of the 34 attractions from which samples were collected for this survey. The figures are based on surveys and estimates drawn from statistical work and are ultimately no guarantee of the actual number of visitors to London’s sights.