Visits to the UK reach record levels
Latest figures from VisitBritain show a record 19.2 million visits to the UK in the first half of 2017, up 9% compared to the start of 2016.
Inbound visitors spent £10.8 billion between January and June 2017, up 14% on the same time last year.
ԬլThe highest growth was in the North West, with 1.5 million visits, up 14% on the same period last year, and the West Midlands, with 1.1 million visits, also up 14%.
Overseas visitor spend in the North West was up 40% to £684 million in the first six months of 2017, while the West Midlands saw a 12% increase in inbound spend in the first six months, up to £387 million. ‘¨
Visits to London between January and June 2017 were up 13% to 10 million, a record first six months.
Overseas visitor spend also reached record levels in the capital, at £6.1 billion in the first six months of this year, up 16%.
The statistics also show that international visits to Scotland in the first half of the year were up 14% to a record 1.3 million, with spend setting another record of £956 million, up 35%.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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