Economist Intelligence Unit reveals London is the best city for tourists who like to shop, scoring top marks for variety of goods, cultural attractions and accessibility.

London took the crown in the Globe Shopper City Index – Europe, a new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research program, sponsored by Global Blue, the experts in international shopping and spending around the world. Overtaking strong competition from cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and Rome, London scored top marks for variety of shopping districts and goods, accessibility and cultural attractions.

The EIU's Globe Shopper City Index – Europe measures the attractiveness of 33 major European cities for international travel shopping. Each city was ranked according to 38 criteria grouped into five categories: shops, affordability, convenience, hotels and transport, and culture and climate.

"The Globe Shopper City Index – Europe is a significant step in Global Blue's strategy to become the go-to brand for everything to do with international shopping and spending around the world," said Per Setterberg, CEO of Global Blue. "This Index will help retailers and shopping brands make better business decisions, while the online Globe Shopper City Index will enable travellers to discover their ideal shopping city based on their personal priorities."

Commenting on the research, Robin Bew, Editorial Director and Chief Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit said, "The Globe Shopper City Index – Europe sheds light on which European cities are best placed to take advantage of the continent's reputation among international consumers. The findings show that the right balance between convenience, availability and price is essential for international travel shopping."

London, a globe shopper's paradise

London's sheer variety of shopping districts and availability of goods earned it the best category score of 80.6 points out of 100. Famously, each London shopping district has its own distinct character, from Oxford Street and Regent Street to Knightsbridge, Saville Row, and Carnaby Street. Added to which famous markets such as, Covent Garden, Portobello Market and Camden Market offer a wealth of goods through small traders. London scored highest on the availability of international and local brands, 24 points ahead of second-placed Paris and almost 40 points ahead of third-placed Moscow.

Plenty to see and do…and easy to get to

The Index recognised London's excellent selection of cultural attractions available to tourists when taking a break from their shopping. The city came first or tied for first, for sights, events and even the variety of cuisine on offer, demonstrating how much the city has changed in recent decades. Finally, London is accessible. In 2010, the city had the most annual passenger flights of any Index city, at 950,000, which is nearly four times the Index average of 240,000, and 200,000 more than the next city on the list, Paris.

A few drawbacks…cost & climate

The biggest drawback for London, according to the Index, is its high prices. Whilst the price of goods are reasonable, with London ranked in the top third of the Index, it ranks 32 out of 33 for the average cost of  two-star and four-star hotel rooms, and came 25 for the cost of taxis and buses.

The Index also picked up on London's less than straight-forward visa regime and the city's world-famous rainy weather.

Discover your ideal shopping city online

As of today global shoppers all over the world will be able to discover which is their ideal shopping city based on their own personal criteria by visiting Globe Shopper City Index at globeshopperindex.eiu.com. So whether they are Explorers, Perfect Planners or Cool Hunters, the Globe Shopper City Index will be able to point them in the right shopping direction. What's more, they can share their findings with friends and family on Facebook and Twitter.

Methodology for Globe Shopper City Index – Europe The Globe Shopper City Index - Europe measures the attractiveness of 33 major European cities for international travel shopping. A city's Index score is made up of 38 criteria, which are grouped into five categories covering shops, affordability, convenience, hotels and transport, and culture and climate. Criteria were assessed quantitatively, e.g. number of passenger flights annually, or qualitatively, e.g. likelihood of bargaining a discount in various stores.

Each city has an average category score. All five category scores were averaged to give an overall Index score. Criteria scores were converted to an Index score between 0 and 100. The EIU developed all the criteria and categories independently. All categories were given equal weighting in the Index.

Index cities were selected based on visitor numbers and economic importance, whilst also factoring geographic diversity. Cities were chosen from European countries with GDP greater than €50bn, with bigger economies being represented by more than one city.

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