Images: London tourism braces for slow recovery
Images as London prepares for tourism to recover.
Yeoman Warder Amanda Clark poses for a portrait at the Tower of London, Thursday, March 4, 2021. England's top paid attraction, which normally draws more than 3 million visitors a year, has been closed for all but a dozen weeks since the pandemic began and international tourism to London came to an almost-complete standstill. The quiet has been surreal for Clark, one of the Tower's famous resident guards known as Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, who lives for interacting with people: directing tourists, telling them stories, posing for their selfies. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The moon rises just above the crest on the upper walkway of Tower Bridge just after moonrise in London, Monday, March 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Memorabilia is displayed in the window of the closed official Buckingham Palace shop across the road from the Palace in London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Raajev Thakrar holds his daughter Maya as his wife Anjali takes a photo on her smartphone as he stands next to a member of the Household Cavalry in Horse Guards Parade in London, Saturday, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
People walk past a closed-off children's roundabout on the South Bank of the River Thames near the London Eye big wheel in London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A boy climbs onto part of Nelson's Column and looks at one of the four lion statues at the base of the column with the Queen Elizabeth II tower in the background in London, Saturday, March 27, 2021. The Queen Elizabeth II tower contains the bell known as Big Ben and is currently undergoing a major refurbishment. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
People walk in front of The National Gallery seen from Trafalgar Square in London, Saturday, March 27, 2021. After three national lockdowns, London's tourist attractions and other hospitality businesses are making tentative plans to reopen in mid-May -- the earliest the government says international travel can resume. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A view of the London Eye big wheel with empty tourist boats tied up on a quiet River Thames in London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. After three national lockdowns, London's tourist attractions and other hospitality businesses are making tentative plans to reopen in mid-May -- the earliest the government says international travel can resume. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Sunrise over the River Thames from Waterloo Bridge looking east with St Paul's Cathedral, left of center and the "Walk Talkie" building at center in London, Saturday, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Chief Operating Officer of the Stafford hotel Stuart Procter pictured at the hotel in London, Thursday, March 4, 2021. Procter, who manages the luxury Stafford Hotel near central London's St. James's Palace, would usually go on marketing trips to America, his core market. This year, he hasn't bothered. For many, planning a vacation to London now is impossible because there's no certainty that big events like the two-week Wimbledon tennis championships in July can go ahead normally, he said.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The moon rises over Tower Bridge in London, Monday, March 29, 2021. After enduring three national lockdowns, attractions and hospitality businesses in London are making tentative plans to reopen from mid-May. But deep uncertainty about the coronavirus remains. With quarantine requirements and travel restrictions still in place everywhere and Europe battling a new surge of infections, many are bracing for another bleak year. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The empty bar at the Stafford hotel near central London's St. James's Palace with the ceiling covered with sporting and other memorabilia, Thursday, March 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A general view towards the City of London from outside of the Tower of London, Saturday, March 6, 2021. The pandemic has dealt a blow to London's tourism industry, which employs one in seven of the capital's workers. Even top attractions like the Tower of London have struggled as COVID-19 curtailed international tourism. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A painting of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II hangs in the reception area of the Stafford hotel near central London's St. James's Palace, Thursday, March 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A barge makes its way down the River Thames past the Tower of London, Saturday, March 6, 2021. The pandemic has dealt a blow to London's tourism industry, which employs one in seven of the capital's workers. Even top attractions like the Tower of London have struggled as COVID-19 curtailed international tourism. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Yeoman Warder Amanda Clark walks in the Tower of London, Thursday, March 4, 2021. England's top paid attraction, which normally draws more than 3 million visitors a year, has been closed for all but a dozen weeks since the pandemic began and international tourism to London came to an almost-complete standstill. The quiet has been surreal for Clark, one of the Tower's famous resident guards known as Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, who lives for interacting with people: directing tourists, telling them stories, posing for their selfies. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
People take a selfie on Tower Bridge in London, Saturday, March 6, 2021. After enduring three national lockdowns, attractions and hospitality businesses in London are making tentative plans to reopen from mid-May. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
St Paul's Cathedral is seen above Tower Bridge in an image taken from the Greenwich Observatory in London, Saturday, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A handful of people mill around the Cutty Sark, the celebrated historic sailing ship, in dry dock in Greenwich, London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A general view over London from the Greenwich Observatory, with Canary Wharf at center rear, and the Queen's House at center in London, Saturday, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The Monument built by Sir Christopher Wren to commemorate the Great Fire of London, is reflected in a glass office building In London, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Two tourists stand in front of Buckingham Palace, one of the official homes of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, in London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. After enduring three national lockdowns, attractions and hospitality businesses in London are making tentative plans to reopen from mid-May. But deep uncertainty about the coronavirus remains. With quarantine requirements and travel restrictions still in place everywhere and Europe battling a new surge of infections, many are bracing for another bleak year. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A sign placed in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace which says there is no Changing of the Guard ceremony, which has been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in London, Thursday, March 25, 2021. After three national lockdowns, London's tourist attractions and other hospitality businesses are making tentative plans to reopen in mid-May -- the earliest the government says international travel can resume. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A sign that tells people the Tower of London is closed due to Government advice about the COVID-19 pandemic in London, Saturday, March 6, 2021. The pandemic has dealt a blow to London's tourism industry, which employs one in seven of the capital's workers. Even top attractions like the Tower of London have struggled as COVID-19 curtailed international tourism. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Words from a nursery rhyme written on the sides of stone benches at the base of The Monument built by Sir Christopher Wren to commemorate the Great Fire of London in London, Monday, March 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The cobblestones are deserted at the Tower of London. A biting wind blows and there is no sign of life. Even the storied ravens are nowhere to be seen.