12 August 2008

UK suffers another tourism decline

Foreign travellers into the UK dropped by 6.4% in June and a Ã¢â¬ÅâœgrimÃ¢â¬~ economic outlook means there is little sign of a pick-up.

Figures from trade organisation UKinbound show that overall visitors were down by 1.3% for the half year against the same period in 2007.

April was the only month which saw a year-on-year rise in visitor numbers.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe economic outlook is particularly grim with the prospect of imminent recession driving consumer confidence in both Europe and the USA to record lows,Ã¢â¬~ the organisation warned.

More lucrative long haul arrivals have been poor, especially from the US and Canada, although business travel has shown resilience.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœHowever, there are worrying signs that companies are now looking to ways to reduce business trips,Ã¢â¬~ said UKinbound.

The only glimmer of hope, although unlikely to have any impact on this year, is the recent resurgence of the US dollar, which has gained in strength against the pound.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœMarket sentiment has shifted to expect further improvement as it is believed that European central banks, unlike the federal Reserve, have been slow to respond to a potential slowdown by refusing to cut interest rates as they focus on flight inflation. If this proves correct, 2009 could be a much better year for inbound tourism,Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies