Record overseas visitors boost tourism spend in regions

Tom Davis Thursday, 22 January 2015, 16:29Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015, 16:29

1 minute read

An increase in the number of international tourists to the UK has encouraged record tourism spend for many parts of the UK, according to new analysis from VisitBritain.

The analysis, based on new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), found that in the first nine months of 2014 overseas tourist spending reached new records in Wales (£303m), Scotland (£1.5bn), East of England (£693m), North West (£849m) and the South East (£1.7bn).

London saw the biggest growth in tourism spend during January to September reaching £8.9bn, equating to the strongest nine-month period on record.

Despite this, compared to the same period in 2013, from January to September 2014 overseas visits grew at a faster rate to Wales (14%), Scotland (12%) and Yorkshire (12%, reaching a new record of 1.08 million) than they did to London (6%).

VisitBritain said that these uplifts are likely to have been enhanced by events, such as Yorkshire’s hosting of the Tour de France Grand Depart, President Obama’s attendance at the NATO Summit in Newport and the 2014 UEFA Super Cup in Cardiff.

Overseas visits in Scotland were enhanced by the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

Both short and long haul tourism increased to Britain. In the nine months, there were 2.4 million visits from the US, up 8% on the previous year, visits from Spain were up 11% to 1.4 million, visits from Germany were up 10% to a new record of 2.7 million and visits from France was up 2% to 3.1 million.

Tourism spend from the US was up 14% to £2.3bn – a new record, Spaniards spent £747m a 17% increase on the previous year, whilst spend from Germany reached a new record of £1.2bn.

Helen Grant, Tourism Minister said: “Britain has so much to offer tourists and it’s fantastic that more of them are exploring the country and helping to drive growth outside of London.

“I want overseas visitors to experience the very best of Britain and with a record £22bn expected to be spent this year the tourism sector is well placed to keep up this momentum, as part of the Government’s long-term economic plan.”