Sir Richard Branson has backed the health of the UK outbound market to the US, describing demand as “holding up” and pointing to the advantage of a weakening dollar.

The Virgin founder said President Donald Trump’s tariffs agenda had unsettled businesses, but he hoped Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Voyages would continue growing following their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added that there would be benefits for UK travellers as a result of the weakening dollar, saying: “For outbound passengers, it’s quite a good time to visit America.”

Asked about the level of outbound demand, he said: “Outbound demand is holding up at Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Voyages.

“I think it most likely would have been doing even better, because we were on a real roll before the tariffs, which unsettled businesses generally, but at the moment Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Voyages have both recovered fully from Covid and are on a roll and we just pray that roll continues at the moment.”

Describing the weakening dollar as being a boost for UK travellers, he said: “It’s already going to cost them 12% less when they get to America than it would have done six weeks ago.”

Branson was speaking during a visit to the new Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch, the group’s first hotel in London, to celebrate the site’s grand opening.

Virgin Hotels Collection chief executive James Bermingham said he “couldn’t be happier” to officially mark the 17th property in the company’s portfolio.

He was also positive about the prospects for outbound travel to the US, saying: “On the hotel side, if the dollar weakens against the pound, that will bode well for folks outbound from the UK to the US.”

Branson said other sites in London were being looked at as potential additional hotel locations in the city.