VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, has today (Thursday) reported an encouraging 11% rise in holiday visits in the last three months of 2011 (March- May), confirming Britain’s growing popularity at a key time for inbound tourism.
In the three months to May 2011 overseas residents made 7.8 million visits to the UK and spent just under £4 billion. The number of visits has risen by 10%, while the spending has risen by 7%.
This trend continues as we break down the International Passenger survey figures- the key monitor of international tourism to the UK- by world region. The number of visits from North America, the highest inbound spenders in the UK, were 15% higher in the three months of 2011 than March-May 2010.
The number of visits from EU15 countries (nations who were members of the European Union before the 2004 expansion) were up 6% in the three months to May 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.
Visits from European Accession countries are starting to show some signs of recovery, with a 5% increase in the three months to May 2011 compared to the three months to May 2010.
Visits from remaining parts of the world (Central and South America, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australasia) were the highest seen in a May so far at 390,000. This reflects growth of over a fifth (22%) in the three months to May 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.
Patricia Yates, VisitBritain Director of Strategy and Communications said: “These new figures show real signs of growth for British tourism.
“Nearly 8 million international tourists have come to Britain in the last three months which saw spending levels in the country rise by 7%. As we start to roll out our marketing programme we can see that Britain is recovering its international appeal.”
