wigstheone

LONDON — If you want to stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow Americans in London, best bets are the Changing of the Guard and the aisles of Harrods department store. But not on this November weekend. Though the weather is fine, the thrilling pomp of Friday's guard-changing ceremony at Buckingham Palace draws a sparse crowd of mainly British and European tourists. Maria Kuechle of Fridley, Minn., and husband Juan Rivero enjoy a rare unobstructed view. Saturday at Christmas-decked Harrods, usually wall to wall with U.S. shoppers, it takes 20 minutes to detect a New World accent. "You've only got a smidgen of Americans in London — a small percentage of what was here last November," observes Rod Halliday, a newspaper vendor outside The Ritz hotel on bustling Piccadilly. He used to watch 150 to 200 Yanks stride by daily; "now it's 15 to 20."

Britain had predicted another record year for U.S. tourists — the No. 1 group of visitors to the United Kingdom. But then came foot-and-mouth disease, cuts in business travel and fear of flying in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorism.

And after years of growth, off-season travel tanked this year. "We expect by the end of 2001 to be down 15% to 25% in American visitors to Britain," says Robin Prestage of the British Tourist Authority.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/llead.htm