Russian tourists to the UK fall by 17 per cent
UK hotels saw income from Russian tourists fall by 17% in February compared with a year ago as visitor numbers dropped amid political unrest in Ukraine.
The findings come from tax-free shopping specialists, Global Blue, which processes the vast majority of tax-free spending by overseas visitors.
It said the unrest exacerbated the effects of a weakening economy, leaving less Russians travelling.
Russians are among the top five biggest-spending tourists in the UK, spending an average of almost £700 per transaction.
Non-EU nationals can shop "tax-free" by claiming back the VAT – worth 20% – on spending above £30 at hotels, basically by filling in a form.
Until the fall-off in February spending had been rising sharply – with an annual increase in spending of 16% in 2013.
The research found that the Middle East, the UK’s top tax-free spending visitors, is still seeing annual growth of 31% and China, in second place, is seeing 23% increase. Nigeria is down 8% since last year.
Diane
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