At least 50 people were injured, a number of them critically, in the attack carried out by lone wolf 52-year-old, Khalid Masood, who mowed down members of the public with a car last Wednesday, before fatally stabbing police officer Keith Palmer.
SuperBreak said it had seen no dip in interest from clients following the assault: “In terms of London, the events of last week have had no impact on bookings at the moment,” said a spokesperson.
The retail sector also reported no change in city break sales generally. John Sullivan, Advantage head of commercial, said: “We’ve not seen anything to suggest that. Perhaps it’s too soon, but I don’t think so; if it was going to happen it would have happened immediately.”
The Travel Network Group reported “nothing noted as yet in terms of decline or cancellations”.
Andy Stark, Global Travel Group managing director, added: “Our agents haven’t reported any significant differences in city break bookings week-on-week."
Meanwhile, South Shields-based agency Westoe Travel praised SuperBreak after the operator came to the aid of one of its customers caught up in the incident.
The client had been visiting Westminster with his wife, and after witnessing the terror attack the couple were locked in the Houses of Parliament for several hours, meaning they missed the start of West End show The Lion King.
Graeme Brett, owner of Westoe Travel, told TTG: “My client was within 10 yards of the incident.
They had to give a statement [to the police].
“SuperBreak talked to the theatre and they were able to give them tickets free of charge [for the next night]. SuperBreak and the theatre were really good about it.”
Brett said his client was “shaken up”, but “determined to carry on with his trip to London”.
In fact Westoe had nearly 40 customers in London at the time of the terrorist attack – all of whom refused to end their trip early.
“We contacted all of those who we had a mobile number for,” said Brett. “Every single one said they wanted to continue with their break – it must be the British spirit.”
Elsewhere, the crew of a City Cruises sightseeing boat helped to rescue Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, who fell into the Thames during the attack on Westminster Bridge. Once alerted by people on the bridge, the ship’s captain halted the boat in order to help Cristea until the emergency services took over the rescue operation.
'British spirit' prevails after London attack
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