Swedes "most worried" by London terror attacks
The tourists who are the most worried by the terror attacks in London are... the Swedes.
"Sweden is the country where we've had the most questions in connection with the attacks," said Colin Marshall, the chairman of the British Tourist Board, to TT.
The British Tourist Board has offices all around the world and helped concerned travellers with all sorts of questions in the hectic days after the bombs in London on July 7th.
But nowhere has there been so many enquiries as in Sweden, according to Lord Marshall, who visited Stockholm on Wednesday, and Simon Bradley, the Board's Nordic manager.
"We've really had an awful lot of questions from Swedes. They want information about everything from how to cancel their trips to whether the underground is working and how to access it," said Bradley.
"We've seen the same behaviour to a certain extent in Norway, but actually nowhere else in the world. In France we had very few questions, in Germany and Spain none at all. And the office in New York just had one call with a question about the terror attacks," said Lord Marshall, who for many years was the managing director and then chairman of British Airways before being made a peer in 1987.
The increased fears of Swedes in connection with the attacks did not come as a surprise, according to the British Tourist Board.
"It has been like this in Sweden after every significant event. We saw the same thing with the Iraq war a couple of years ago," said Lord Marshall.
"I don't know what causes it but maybe part of the explanation is that there are many Swedish students in London and their parents keep ringing them to check up on them."
But Lord Marshall said that he suspected the effects would be short term.
"The number of bookings to London with SAS and Ryanair is actually greater after the attacks than they were at the same time last year. I think people will put this behind them pretty quickly."
The Local/TT
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"Sweden is the country where we've had the most questions in connection with the attacks," said Colin Marshall, the chairman of the British Tourist Board, to TT.
The British Tourist Board has offices all around the world and helped concerned travellers with all sorts of questions in the hectic days after the bombs in London on July 7th.
But nowhere has there been so many enquiries as in Sweden, according to Lord Marshall, who visited Stockholm on Wednesday, and Simon Bradley, the Board's Nordic manager.
"We've really had an awful lot of questions from Swedes. They want information about everything from how to cancel their trips to whether the underground is working and how to access it," said Bradley.
"We've seen the same behaviour to a certain extent in Norway, but actually nowhere else in the world. In France we had very few questions, in Germany and Spain none at all. And the office in New York just had one call with a question about the terror attacks," said Lord Marshall, who for many years was the managing director and then chairman of British Airways before being made a peer in 1987.
The increased fears of Swedes in connection with the attacks did not come as a surprise, according to the British Tourist Board.
"It has been like this in Sweden after every significant event. We saw the same thing with the Iraq war a couple of years ago," said Lord Marshall.
"I don't know what causes it but maybe part of the explanation is that there are many Swedish students in London and their parents keep ringing them to check up on them."
But Lord Marshall said that he suspected the effects would be short term.
"The number of bookings to London with SAS and Ryanair is actually greater after the attacks than they were at the same time last year. I think people will put this behind them pretty quickly."
The Local/TT
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