Ted Lasso’s hangout near London sees US fans ease the pain of tourism – Article

(Bloomberg) – Dan Creek keeps hearing the same question from new customers with odd overtones passing by The Prince’s Head in southwest London: is this the Ted Lasso pub?

Yes, this is where Jason Sudeikis’ character drowns his football and family sorrows, and Creek welcomes curiosity. He is the general manager of The Real Waterhole, in the leafy and well-heeled neighborhood of Richmond, which appears on the Apple TV show under the fictitious name The Crown & Anchor.

As UK pubs return to normal, The Prince’s Head receives an unexpected boost as severe UK travel restrictions remain in place. Some Americans stop by the idyllic English backdrop of the television series to have the same pint Ted drinks and commune with the locals.

“It felt like a flick of the switch,” Creek said of the patronage of American visitors in recent weeks. After months of Covid-19 restrictions on the hospitality industry, “there has been a pretty edifying change with US tourism being out there,” he said.

The number of UK flights, including domestic and international arrivals and departures, hit a pandemic high of 3,589 as of September 5, according to the seven-day average of data released Thursday by the Office for National Statistics. But this still only represents 53% of the volume in September 2019.

Pubs, theaters and hotels are hoping that the number of spendthrift US tourists who choose to vacation in Britain will increase after the European Union removed the country from its list of safe countries. This would reverse an earlier trend where daily flights from the US to several European destinations suggest the UK has lost summer tourism activities to other countries in the region.

Still, there is still a way to go before wealthy American tourists return to the UK in large numbers, as the country remains on Britain’s Orange List for travel – the midpoint of its risk scale. .

So, although fully vaccinated arrivals are not subject to a mandatory quarantine, they must produce a negative Covid-19 test before traveling and take another two days after landing. US rules require another test before heading home – capping a series of dates that can add hundreds of dollars in costs.

It wasn’t until August 2 that the UK began allowing vaccinated Americans to skip quarantine if they tested without Covid.

At The Prince’s Head, Creek said that repeat customers mingle with Ted Lasso fans who “want to sit down and have their pictures taken and stuff like that, which is really, really nice to see.” It is owned by Fuller Smith & Turner Plc and operates in a building that dates back to 1705, according to its website.

The management pays tribute to the cast and crew with signed photos discreetly hung at the back of the pub. The sanctuary is intentionally low-key so as not to exceed its reputation as a must-see in the neighborhood.

“We’re a pub in our own right – we’ve been here for hundreds of years,” Creek said. “As much as it’s great to be a part of the show, we just need to make sure that we maintain our own traditions. “

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