Britain welcomes record number of visitors
A record number of visitors arrived in the UK in June and, more importantly, spent a record amount.
VisitBritain said the upward trend strengthened earlier gains made in the first quarter of the year.
The findings from the latest International Passenger Survey showed there were 2.89 million overseas visitors to Britain in June, up 9% on the same month last year. This was an increase of 4% on the previous record, set in June 2005.
Expenditure by overseas visitors reached £1.685bn, a rise of 4% over June 2010, which was also a record high.
Director of strategy and communications Patricia Yates said: "This is an encouraging sign for tourism across Britain, and shows that the UK is very much open for business and making the most of the opportunity presented by hosting next year Olympics.
“Not only are we seeing overall visitor numbers and expenditure at their highest ever level for June, but international visits to the UK in the first half of the year are up six per cent compared with the same period last year.
“Perhaps the most exciting trend emerging at present has been the increasing number of visitors who are coming to Britain from parts of the world beyond Europe and North America."
However, only time will tell whether inbound tourism has been hit by this week's riots and by the images flashed around the world of a Malaysian student, Asyraf Haziq Rosli, being attacked and then robbed on a London street.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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