With tourism statistics on the decline in the British capital, foreign visitors are in a perfect position to capitalize on offers from numerous London sightseeing destinations this summer. A cash-strapped European economy and airline-industry fallout from the Volcanic Ash crisis of several months ago will result in fewer visitors, and less money, flowing into the capital during the summer holidays.

While this is nothing short of disastrous for hoteliers, restaurateurs and tourism development bureaucrats, it should provide a welcome break for everyday Londoners and the average foreign tourist. Less crowding in public parks and major shopping centres, an ebb in pedestrian traffic on Westminster bridge and, god willing, shorter queues down the pub during World Cup.

Major attractions such as Madame Tussaud's and the London Eye are offering significant price reductions and rock-bottom group admission rates in the coming months in a bid for tourist Pounds, Euros and Dollars, as the case may be. This may seem like yet another symptom of the unceasing power of worldwide economic recession, but it also provides an opportunity for Britons and international tourists alike to get out and enjoy London on their own terms, and without breaking what's left of the bank.

A recent Daily Mail article reports that many hoteliers have slashed their usually exorbitant summer rates by up to 75% in order to drum up business and remedy depleted cashflows. That being said, there will be no shortage of hotels in London offering luxury rooms at two-star prices: a welcome change from running the usual Leicester Square tourist gauntlet. Foreign visitors can expect to stay in central locales for below average rates, allowing them to leisurely saunter over to Trafalgar Square or Big Ben through streets pleasantly empty with wallets surprisingly full.

For the everyday Londoner, the grand benefit here is obvious: fewer tourists more evenly spread out across the capital and, thus, posing less of a disruption to the normal run of things. Pending the arrival of the great British summer, the postponement of yet another irksome election, and the success of the England squad in South Africa, 2010 may well end up being a year to remember, though not for all the doom and gloom we might have predicted back in January.