Wednesday, July 25, 2018
The drawing power of the UK as a tourist destination fuelled by a feeble pound was highlighted in 2017 with a record increase in arrivals.
In 2017, inbound numbers increased 4% over the previous year to it a new high of 39.2 million with spending up 9% to £24.5 billion.
Last year, the number of visitor nights spent in the UK grew by 3% to 285 million, however, the average number of nights per visit dell to 7.3, as per the latest official figures.
Travelers from China, Australia, the Gulf, India and the US, supported a record year in terms of inbound tourism.
In 2017, a double-digit growth in visits and spend was seen from China, the world’s most precious outbound market. It was reported by VisitBritain with visits up 29% on 2016 to a record 337,000 and spending of £694 million, up 35%.
The UK’s most sought-after source country for tourism, the US grew 13% to 3.9 million in 2017, the highest since 2000. Visitors from the US spent a record £3.6 billion, up 9%.
For visits and spend from the Gulf region and India, records were set.
From the Middle East, a record of 812,000 inbound visits was made up 5% with spending going up 55% to £2.2 billion.
From India, there were 562,000 visits up 35% with visitors spending a record £454 million
The 1.1 million visits from Australia was up 11% year-on-year, with spending up 13% to of £1.2 billion.
Tags: Tourist Destination, UK
