Bangkok--Nov 10--eTurboNews
Latest international visitor figures for the first nine months of 2005 continue to show that inbound tourism to the UK is performing well, VisitBritain said today. Overseas residents have made over 23 million visits here so far this year - a ten per cent increase on January to September 2004 - and contributed EURO10.7 billion to the visitor economy.
Between January and September, the greatest growth came from Western Europe and the Rest of World regions with visits rising 11 per cent to 14.7 million and 18 per cent to 4.9 million respectively. The provisional data also indicates that the EURO10.7 billion spent by overseas visitors is up nine per cent on the same period in 2004. North American visits for July to September increased three per cent, however low consumer confidence in the USA and increasing competition from rival destinations could be affecting longer term prospects from the region and account for the overall (January - September) two per cent fall in visits from North America.
Tom Wright, VisitBritain chief executive, said: "This is further positive news for Britain's EURO74 billion visitor economy and we are on track to welcome 29.3 million international visitors by the end of this year, who will spend EURO13.9 billion while they are here.
"However, the figures also highlight some of the challenges that face the industry. Visitors from Western Europe traditionally spend less per visit than their North American counterparts and usually stay for a shorter time as well. Emerging markets including China, India, Eastern European and South East Asian countries continue to grow but will take time to reach their full potential. As well as extra investment in these newer markets, we must continue to support initiatives and brand building work in our traditional markets, particularly in the US."
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