Drop in tourists hits pubs

Pubs suffering from the 'perfect storm' conspiring against them have been dealt another major blow.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that tourist visits to the UK between April and June are down five per cent.

The drop in overseas visitors from 8.5 million to 8.1 million is the latest factor to hit the industry, already struggling with the credit crunch, cheap supermarket prices and the impact of the smoking ban.

St John Harris, licensee of the Angel Inn, in Spinkhill near Sheffield, said he had noticed a drop in tourists to both the hotel and pub arms of his business.

He said: "We have seen a drop in the overall numbers of people coming here which results in a drop in takings.

"Generally people have less to spend at the moment and going to the pub is way down on the list of priorities."

Wendy Blake, licensee of Isle of Wight pub the Old Comical said there had been a noticeable drop in tourists coming to the island.

She said: "Some pubs are really suffering and have been contemplating shutting down for the winter.

"There has been a lot less people coming over here this summer, but we have been lucky because we have very strong local trade."

The statistics also show that in the year to June 2008 the number of overseas visits to the UK dropped three per cent from 33.5 million to 32.5 million.

Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, said it was time for the UK to sell itself better.

"People in certain areas really rely on tourist trade so it is important that Great Britain markets itself a lot better and so do pubs."