Winter Wonderland has iconically become synonymous with winter in London since its inception in 2007. It has been a winter highlight for many families, friends and tourists. However, due to the rising number of COVID cases many businesses and companies, including Winter Wonderland, have had to take action to slow down the spread of coronavirus by putting in safety measures. For Winter Wonderland this included limiting the number of people in attendance at any one time by enforcing a paid online booking system during peak times. This fee was a controversial move but one which was financially necessary for the company to turn a profit with limited numbers.

Covid-19 had a huge impact on tourists coming to England and planning to go to Winter Wonderland, with the new COVID rules requiring travellers to the UK to take a day to get a PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative COVID result. This meant that people who had booked a ticket to winter wonderland from abroad may have had to spend most of their time in isolation, unable to spend time with friends or family in this festive time around Christmas. Many also would have missed the day that they had booked their ticket for due to the fact that they had to isolate which posed many problems for customers, who demanded a refund. However, the situation did get better when some citizens offered to buy the tickets from those who couldn’t go in an effort to make a win-win situation and make things better around Christmas.

While also getting many complaints, Winter Wonderland has been much less crowded this year compared to other years where it was jam-packed and the beautiful lights and attractions lured in many families and couples to spend their money on rides as well as stalls, especially at night when the view was outstanding. A customer, Soroush Dehghany, even went far enough to say “when I went to Winter Wonderland I was sceptical at first and just hoped that I hadn’t wasted my money but by the end of it I had a great time!”. However, this year not as many people went due to the rising cases of COVID and many families didn’t want to risk catching COVID and have their holiday ruined which would for sure have dampened the Christmas spirit.

COVID has also had devastating impacts on other smaller businesses too; four in five small business owners have had set backs and claim that their mental health has deteriorated due to the pandemic, which is very worrying since their small business may be their only source of income. With prices of units rising heavily and less people buying things due to unease of catching COVID, this has decreased the profit of small businesses greatly. The contrast between expensive Winter Wonderland, which people will pay an entry fee for, and other smaller businesses being forced to shut down as they cannot afford expenses, is startling. However, it must be conceded that Winter Wonderland was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID and after such a gruelling time with the virus, society is ready to have fun again.