Inbound travel to the UK is strong, except from France
Travel to the UK from most of its major markets is up year on year, according to the latest Business Barometer survey by UKinbound.
As a result, confidence levels among its 385 members regarding bookings and visitor revenues has risen to 62% from 42% a year ago.
The Chinese and the US markets have performed best, with 20% of members saying they were the main markets where they were seeing growth. Last year, the figure for both was 14%.
But Europe continues to account for 66% of visitors to the UK.
UKinbound chief executive Deirdre Wells said France was the only European market which was not strong. She said the fall in French visitors was due to the cancellation of French school groups following the terror attacks in Paris, rather than concerns regarding security in the UK.
"In contrast, other Eurozone markets are doing well because of the improved exchange rate," she added.
There was only a ‘small dip’ in visitors after the terror attack on Westminster, but Wells conceded that it is too early to tell what long-term impact this and the London Bridge and Manchester attacks will have on visitor numbers.
"This summer will be very interesting," she said, "before these incidents, confidence among our members was very high, it was 80% back in March, and since some members have recalibrated a little bit."
However, she praised the government and the London Mayor’s office for their statements in the immediate aftermath of the terror attacks in which they stressed that their main concern was the safety of the public.
"We need to get a strong message out that we are a safe, welcoming destination," she said.
Brexit remains the greatest challenge to the UK tourism industry, she said, not least because 30% of employees are EU migrants.
"We are quite dependent on EU migration so securing a deal that means we have a ready supply of high quality skilled people is important," said Wells. "We need to maintain visa-free travel and access to the single aviation market as 70% of people arrive by air."
On the flip side, the fall in the pound following the EU referendum has boosted tourism as it’s made the UK a more affordable destination. "We have a real opportunity with the fall in the the pound to show what great value the UK is," she added.
Nevertheless, Wells, who has recently been appointed chair of the Tourism Alliance, said half of all tourists still only visit London. "We need to squirrel out those gems around the country and use big events to showcase what the rest of the UK has to offer and encourage those first-time long-haul visitors to explore further."
More open-jaw tickets, which allow air passengers to fly into one airport and out of another, would also help spread tourism out from the capital, she said.
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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