Britain on track for best tourism year ever - with 16m visitors spending £20bn
https://jattravel.blogspot.com/2013/10/britain-on-track-for-best-tourism-year.html
Britain is welcoming more tourists than ever before and they are set to spend a record £20billion in the country this year.
Foreign tourists made 22.03m visits to the UK in the first eight months of this year, a six per cent increase in the number who visited last year.
And August saw the number of holidaymakers jump from 3.02million in 2012 to 3.5million this year - making it the best month for visitors so far this year.
The surge in Britain's
popularity has seen foreigner spend £137billion in the country so far
this year, prompting the UK's tourist board, Visit Britain, to predict
that visitor spend will reach the new milestone of £20billion by the end
of 2013.
While the number of American visitors saw an increase during the first eight months of the year, the number of Europeans visiting in the month of August shot up 17 per cent.
Britain has also seen a leap in popularity among 'rest of world' markets, outside Europe and North America, with visits up 13 per cent during the first eight months of the year and a huge 28 per cent in August itself.
Sandie Dawe, chief executive of VisitBritain said: “More people than ever from around the world are choosing to holiday in Britain. With record numbers coming from the high spending markets of Latin America, Middle East and Asia Pacific."
The capital, in particular, has benefitted from hosting the Olympic Games in 2012, welcoming almost eight million overseas visitors during the first half of the year - a new record.
If the upward trend continues, London could hit 16 million foreign visitors this year - an all-time high which would put London ahead of Bangkok as the world's most popular destination for foreign travellers.
Bangkok is expected to welcome 15.98million visitors a year, with London just behind that with 15.96million, followed by Paris with 14million and New York with 11.5million.
Foreign tourists made 22.03m visits to the UK in the first eight months of this year, a six per cent increase in the number who visited last year.
And August saw the number of holidaymakers jump from 3.02million in 2012 to 3.5million this year - making it the best month for visitors so far this year.
Record-breaker: More overseas visitors are holidaying in the UK and spending more money than ever before
While the number of American visitors saw an increase during the first eight months of the year, the number of Europeans visiting in the month of August shot up 17 per cent.
Britain has also seen a leap in popularity among 'rest of world' markets, outside Europe and North America, with visits up 13 per cent during the first eight months of the year and a huge 28 per cent in August itself.
Sandie Dawe, chief executive of VisitBritain said: “More people than ever from around the world are choosing to holiday in Britain. With record numbers coming from the high spending markets of Latin America, Middle East and Asia Pacific."
Sporting stars: The Olympic Games put London on the world stage in 2012
The capital, in particular, has benefitted from hosting the Olympic Games in 2012, welcoming almost eight million overseas visitors during the first half of the year - a new record.
If the upward trend continues, London could hit 16 million foreign visitors this year - an all-time high which would put London ahead of Bangkok as the world's most popular destination for foreign travellers.
Bangkok is expected to welcome 15.98million visitors a year, with London just behind that with 15.96million, followed by Paris with 14million and New York with 11.5million.
