London's tourism industry is struggling to compete with the impact of the Olympic Games, which has left the host city a "ghost town", businesses said on Tuesday.
Many traditional tourist hotspots have reported a fall in ticket sales as visitors flock to Olympic venues across the capital.
Theatre companies said they were seeing a "mixed picture" with many companies struggling due to the lack of footfall in the West End.
Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, said cab drivers had been hit hard and described London as a "ghost town".
Regent Street, one of the busiest commercial streets in London, sits relatively empty this week
Mr McNamara added: "Anecdotally our business is down by about 20-40% depending on the time of day.
"Normally about 90% of our customers are Londoners but they've all left the city and haven't been replaced by tourists.
"I don't know where all these tourists are or how they're getting about but London is like a ghost town."
A spokeswoman for the British Museum said there had been a 25-30% fall in the number of visitors.
The surprising dip in footfall comes as London was expected to be bursting with visitors
Christopher Woodward, director of the Garden Museum, next door to Lambeth Palace in London, said an exhibition at the museum charting the history of foreign flora in British gardens had proved popular.
But he said the museum had suffered a drop in the number of people booking wedding receptions over August because of the Olympics and the Paralympics.
Bernard Donoghue, chief executive of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, which represents venues ranging from London Zoo to St Paul's Cathedral, said visitor numbers were down by between 30% and 35%.
He added: "There are two groups of people missing. The first are general visitors to London who are staying clear because of the perception that London will be busy.
Trafalgar Square, of all places, has been much quieter this week
"The second are Londoners and Brits who have been warned there will be a transport nightmare.
"Our message to them is that, while it may be sensible to avoid certain peak times and locations, transport is running very smoothly.
"Ironically there has never been a better time to visit our attractions because the queues are shorter and opening times have been extended."