London tourist trade falls 23%

London's tourist trade slumped by 23 per cent last month - a more severe drop than the most pessimistic forecasts.

With 275,000 jobs depending on the capital's £8 billion tourism industry, the economic impact will have been crippling.

Today's statistics from the British Incoming Tour Operators Association (BITOA) are the first official figures on the impact of the attacks.Tourist authorities were estimating a £1 billion bill nationally based on forecasts of a 15 to 20 per cent drop.

Richard Tobias, association chief executive, said: "This confirms our w orst fears that the events in the US on 11 September are having a catastrophic impact on Britain's inbound tourism industry."

The British Tourist Authority, which has put the year's cost at £2.5 billion, said: "These findings are very worrying. It means one fifth of hotels will have been unoccupied and restaurants will have had a fifth of tables empty."