Britain sees strongest first half for tourism
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Inbound tourism to the UK has seen the highest numbers in history for the first half of a year.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show there were 16.4 million visitors to the UK in January to June, up 8% on last year.
Holiday visits set a record with 1.4 million visits, accounting for 44% of inbound tourism, while business trips were up 5% but yet to reach pre-recession levels.
In June alone the number of visits was up 10% to 3.18m while spend was up 4% to GBP1.97 billion.
Tourists from the EU15 countries saw a 10% increase at 1.78m while visits from those living in non-EU countries went up 28%.
Figures from APAC, Middle East, Latin America and Africa were in line with last year for June, but have gone up 2% year-to-date.
David Edwards, head of research and forecasting VisitBritain, said: “Tourism is an essential part of the wider success of our economy and these first six months have set us up for what could be another record year for inbound tourism. It’s also hugely positive to see growth both from our high volume European markets and also emerging markets across Asia and Latin America.”
Minister for Tourism Helen Grant said: “It’s fantastic that Britain’s tourism industry is performing so strongly with a record number of visits for 2014 so far and highest ever spend for June.”
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