Leisure giant spooked by first-half fall in visitors
Merlin Entertainments, the leisure group whose vast portfolio includes the Edinburgh Dungeon, the London Eye and Madame Tussauds, has said that the recent spate of terror attacks hit visitor numbers at its city centre attractions in the first half of the year.
The firm suffered from “significantly reduced domestic demand” at its Midway division, which includes Legoland and Shrek’s Adventure, adding that it remains cautious on international visitor numbers over the key summer trading period. The attacks on London Bridge, Borough Market and the Manchester Arena earlier this year contributed to holding Merlin’s pretax profit down in the six months to 1 July, which came in flat at £50 million. At Midway, operating profit fell almost 17 per cent in the period.
The terror attacks came after a bright period for Merlin, which said in March that profits were being boosted by the fall in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote, lifting tourist numbers.