Tourists are continuing their love for the UK with this May showing the best results than any previous May.
The latest International Passenger Survey (ISP) figures show a 4% year-on-year boost for May traffic into the UK to 3.2 million. Around 1.4m of these were for holidays, while business trips saw a 6% increase.
The numbers also marked a record for the first five months of a year with numbers reaching 13.23 million, up 7%. Spend remained relatively the same at GBP6.96bn.
In the 12 rolling months up to May 2014 there were 33.73 million visits dominated by the French, Germans and Americans.
Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communications at VisitBritain said: “To have four months out of five reaching new records for holiday visits is a great achievement – and that’s even before we hit the seasonal summer months. These results highlight Britain’s strength as a year-round destination. If the rest of the year continues like this, 2014 is set to be another excellent year for inbound tourism to Britain.”
Minister for Tourism Helen Grant held the first Tourism Council meeting today looking at growth in the sector including jobs.
Grant commented: “It’s great news that visitor numbers in the 12 months to May are at a record high and spend for that period is up by 8% to more than GBP20bn. We still have some fantastic big events that will attract overseas visitors in the coming months such as the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup. The Government is completely committed to doing all we can to help the tourism industry.”
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