02 Sep 2014
Mind The Map: UAE officials create areas-to-avoid guide for tourists visiting London
BY Chris Dodd
Tourists visiting London from the United Arab Emirates have been warned to avoid famous landmarks like Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, on a new list of troublesome hotspots published by the UAE's foreign ministry website.
The information appears to be based on data from the Metropolitan Police’s website, however the force has also stated that there is nowhere in London that tourists need to avoid.
The advice from the ministry comes as two groups of Emirati visitors were victims of serious crime in the capital recently, with a group of sisters being attacked in a Marble Arch hotel, while a couple were robbed at gunpoint in Paddington.
The list of places also includes Edgware Road, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Soho and Piccadilly, with the areas reportedly holding high fraud, theft and pick-pocketing rates.
Despite the advice, both tourism officials and the Met have alluded to an overall drop in crime – measuring 17 per cent in the West End over the last seven years.
The news could cause slight concern amongst leisure, tourism and retail businesses given that figures from VisitBritain recently conveyed that Middle Eastern tourists were the most zealous spenders when visiting the UK.
The figures showed that of the Middle Eastern tourists visiting, Kuwaitis were shown to have the deepest pockets, with the average visit from that country delivering £4,000 to the UK economy. By comparison, the average French visitor is spends around £343.
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