International visitor spend smashes UK Government targets
International visitors spent an extra £2.5 billion in Britain during the last four years, beating the target set by the Government by half a billion pounds.
National tourism body VisitBritain claimed that every pound it had received to promote British tourism resulted in an extra £21 in visitor spend.
Overall inbound tourism was worth more than £26 billion to the UK economy in 2013. The industry is also a major job creator, said VisitBritain, pointing out that every 22 additional Chinese visitors that come to Britain create an additional job in the sector.
VisitBritain chair Christopher Rodrigues said: "We have contributed to another record year for inbound tourism numbers and spend. Inbound tourism is clearly a key economic driver, creating growth and jobs right across Britain.
"We will continue to deliver award-winning campaigns, build partnerships to extend our impact, make it easy for people to get here by building air route connectivity and supporting the development of a bookable, integrated transport system which is easy for the international customer to understand and use.
"Everything we do is motivated by the goal to add value to the inbound tourism industry, maximising the taxpayers’ investment in tourism, and driving economic growth across the nations and regions ensuring that the economic benefits of tourism are felt across the whole of Britain."
Tourism Minister Tracey Crouch said: "VisitBritain has done fantastic work to promote UK tourism to overseas visitors. There are a multitude of wonderful cultural and heritage sites on offer throughout the UK which I’m delighted that overseas visitors are enjoying. However, there is always more to do and this Government is committed to supporting the tourism industry, and through the 5 Point Plan for tourism, we will ensure these economic benefits are spread throughout the country."
Recent numbers show that international tourism growth is now faster in the nations and regions than in London.
In 2014 visits to Wales were up 7% on 2013 (from 869k to 932k); Scotland 12% (from 2.4m to 2.7m); England 5% (13.5m to 14.2m – excluding London) and London 4% (17.4m to 18.8m).
Announcing the figures at its annual review launch today, VisitBritain also re-iterated its ambition for international visits to Britain to grow by more than 20% during the next five years to 42 million by 2020.
This could see an additional £4.5 billion in visitor spend.
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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