The volume of UK tourists visiting London seems to be growing as many budget conscious holiday makers are chosing to holiday closer to home rather than go abroad as the global recession bites into holiday savings.

Whilst the worlds financial woes have largely affected all kinds of holiday sales including both domestic and overseas holiday destinations, London seems to have benefitted in terms of an increase in UK citizens visiting its attractions.

Graham Powell of London tours company, Country Travel Tours, says: “We’ve definitely noticed an increase in demand for our London tour guide service and more than ever our customers are UK residents, many even local to London.

In addition to growing demand for Tours of London, the capitals museums and galleries are seeingh an increase in visitor numberts. This trend has also spread to the rest of the UK and is thought to be a result of a decrease in people’s disposable income and a view that a cheap or even free visit to the local museum is a good alternative to an expensive night out on the town.

One interesting twist on this apparent good news is that most London hotels are reporting declining occupancy levels which would seem to contradict any apparent influx in domestic visitors to London. Although many people see this simply as indicative of the kind of visits people make to the city. Graham Powell explains: “What we have been seeing is more day trippers coming to London rather than say week long holiday makers using our London tour service. Also a lot of people tell us they are staying with relatives either in or close to London as opposed to booking paid accommodation in the city.”

London tour guides guides and museums aside, for many suffering business reliant on tourism in London the 2012 Olympics cant come soon enough.