Harrods boss warns tourists may not return until 2022

The managing director of the iconic department store Harrods has warned that US and Asian tourists may not return until 2022 after the store revealed a significant drop in the number of visitors to the store. 

According to The Telegraph, Ward, speaking to investment bank Jeffiries, revealed the number of visitors to the store per day has dropped by 95% to just 4,500. 

As such he also said the store expects annual sales to be down by 45% for the year, with European customers said to account for just 30% of its revenue. 

Earlier this month, it was reported that Harrods was set to cut around 700 jobs as it attempts to weather the storm caused by the coronavirus pandemic.   

According to The Guardian, Harrods told its staff that one in seven of its employees would be affected by the jobs cut. 

The paper revealed that in a note to Harrods staff, Ward, said: “The necessary social-distancing requirements to protect employees and customers is having a huge impact on our ability to trade, while the devastation in international travel has meant we have lost key customers coming to our store and frontline operations.”

It was expected that jobs in part of the business which are set to remain closed would be the most likely to be affected.