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Brexit Sends Tourists Flocking to London to ‘Buy, Buy, Buy’

  • Chinese searches for U.K. holidays ‘skyrocketed’: booking site
  • Shoppers flocking to Britain could hurt sales in Japan, Macau
Bloomberg business news

Pound Slump Lures Tourists to London to Buy

By
Andrew Roberts, Monami Yui and Sam Chambers
Updated on

By voting to leave the European Union, Britons have delivered a potential windfall to tourists eager to snatch up Burberry trenchcoats, Harrods Stilton and Liberty scarves on the cheap.

The outcome of Thursday’s referendum sent the British currency plunging, making the country’s goods and services cheaper for foreign buyers. Consumers reacted immediately: Searches by Chinese for U.K. holidays “skyrocketed” on Ctrip.com International Ltd.’s travel booking app, the company said, while Chinese news site Phoenix implored visitors to London to “Buy, Buy, Buy.”