London no longer a luxury shopping heaven for tourists

A giant Christmas tree has been put up at the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris. Tourists looking to shop for luxury items are now in favour of tax-free destinations like Paris and Milan, over London. — Reuters

London is losing out to Paris (France) and Milan (Italy) as a tourist destination for high-spending shoppers over the lack of a tax incentive, British luxury brand Burberry said, after its Britain-based sales suffered.

Overseas visitors to London have not been able to claim back value-added tax on shopping since the end of 2020 following Brexit, putting the city’s upmarket stores at a disadvantage to rival European cities.