Quarterly figures released by Visit London have shown a downturn in the number of tourists visiting the city.

Provisional results from the report indicate that there was a 4 per cent drop in visitors to London in 2007, and the capital's tourism authority has forecast further falls in both 2008 and 2009.

Visit London highlights deteriorating economic conditions for the slump in tourist numbers to the city. A spokesperson for the authority said: “Over the last two consecutive years, London has seen record numbers of overseas visitor spending (£8.2b in 2007). In 2007, London welcomed a total of 25.5 million visitors.

“As a result of economic conditions and the impact of the credit crunch, the outlook for tourism has weakened in recent months. Visit London predicts overall visits to fall by 2.7 per cent in 2008 and 1.2 per cent in 2009. However, strong visitor growth since 2005 does means London is facing this slowdown from a position of relative strength.”