New figures out today show a record-breaking November for inbound
tourism visits and spend to the UK.
There were 3.1 million inbound visits to the UK in November 2016,
up 17% on the same month in 2015. Overseas visitors spent £1.7
billion, up 14%.
Today’s figures from the Office for National Statistics show that
from January to November 2016 the UK saw 34.5 million visits, up
3% on the same period in 2015 with visitors spending £20.4
billion, up 1%.
Strong growth was seen in November last year from North America
(Canada and the
US* - the latter
Britain’s most valuable tourism source market) with 300,000
visits, up 28% compared to November 2015.
It brings total visits from North America for January to November
2016 to 4 million, up 6% on 2015.
There were 23.3 million visits from the EU for January to
November 2016, up 4% on the same period in 2015.
Tourism Minister said:
"Our tourism industry is booming as Britain cements its
reputation as one of the world's must-visit destinations. I am
particularly pleased that there are an increasing number of
visits from important markets like the US, with tourism making a
significant contribution to our economy. We are committed to
helping the sector grow even further, so the benefits are spread
far and wide across the country."
VisitBritain Chief Executive Sally Balcombe
said:
“These figures demonstrate our tourism industry’s crucial role in
showing that our nation is welcoming and open for business, and
its increasing importance as a driver of economic
growth.
“We are seeing success in growing tourism from our high value
markets including the US and we are competing strongly in Europe.
We are seizing the opportunity to build on this, promoting a
message of value, welcome and showcasing the amazing experiences
that visitors can only get here.”
Inbound tourism forecast for 2017
VisitBritain’s forecast for 2017 shows that overall inbound
tourism growth is set to continue with 38.1 million visits, up 4%
on 2016 which is likely to see about 36.7 million visits by year
end.
Spending by overseas visitors is predicted to reach £24.1 billion
in 2017, an 8% increase on spending last year which is expected
to top out at £22.3 billion.
Latest flight booking data shows that flight bookings to the UK
are up 10% for January to March compared to the same period last
year.
Tourism is Britain's seventh largest export industry and third
largest service sector. It is worth £127 billion annually to the
UK economy, creating jobs and boosting economic growth across its
nations and regions.
ENDS
Notes:
• To read more about VisitBritain’s monthly update for November
2016 see https://www.visitbritain.org/latest-monthly-data
• *Latest official statistics at country
level are for January 2016 to September 2016 and were released by
ONS on Thursday 19 January 2017. The statistics showed that
Britain saw record-breaking spend from visitors from the United
States (US), its most valuable inbound tourism market. Visitors
from the US spent £2.5 billion from January to September last
year across Britain, the highest amount since records began and
up 9% on 2015 figures.
The figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics also
show that visits from the US were up 3% to 2.7 million for the
first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period the year
before.
