As part of GCSE Travel and Tourism, our Acting Co-Headteacher, Miss Coffill, took a group of students into Central London – a city with some of the highest levels of tourism across the whole world!
Each year London receives between 20 – 30 million international visitors who take in all the sights and sounds and historic landmarks that date back hundreds of years.
The group started off at the London Transport Museum which has over 400,000 visitors a year. Although it is seen as a specialist tourist attraction for international visitors, a lot of families visit from within the UK, as there are some great activities for children, alongside the amazing history of transport in London.
Next up was a peek in The Savoy Hotel which is a luxury 5* hotel and houses several restaurants. The hotel is over 120 years old and a few years ago underwent a £220 million refurbishment. The renovations were over a year and a half late and over budget by about £100 million, but the results are amazing! The hotel on The Strand is a great tourist asset in London, especially for those that have a few extra pennies to spend.
Next on the list was a look at some of the ‘tourist trap’ shops with ‘London’ emblazoned on them! We have so many iconic figures in London, such as Paddington Bear or the Royal Family and tourists love to buy such items, just like we do when we tour another country.
After a short trip round Theatre Land, which is just as iconic as Broadway, if not more, the group spotted Harrods in the distance. Harrods has been in existence since 1824, but moved to the Knightsbridge area we know and love in 1849. It is a department store of 5 acres and attracts visitors from all over the world. Harrods boasts figures of 15 million people that walk through their doors every year – quite impressive! Just a few of those were visitors from East Barnet School. Students were wowed by the food court – in particular the chocolate, before jumping in the lift to see what else there was to explore.
The day finished with a trip on the Thames Clipper to see all of the famous landmarks that line the Thames such as the London Eye, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. It is these landmarks and so many like them, that make London so attractive to tourists and such a great place for our Travel and Tourism students to visit – plus it is right on our doorstep!
