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June saw a record number of overseas visits to the UK, official statistics from VisitBritain show.
There were 3.5 million visits to the UK in June, up 7% on the same month last year.
Overseas visitors spent £2.2 billion in June, up 2% compared to the same month last year.
There was strong growth from North America in June with 650,000 visits, up 35% on the same month last year.
It brings the overall number of overseas visits to the UK for January to June this year to a record-breaking 19.1 million and up 9% compared to the same period in 2016. Overseas visitors spent a record £10.6 billion, up 11% on 2016.
Patricia Yates, director of VisitBritain, said: “Tourism is one of Britain’s most valuable export industries and this continued growth demonstrates the industry’s increasing importance as a key driver of economic growth across our nations and regions.
“The tourism industry is making a compelling case to be one of the industries included in the government’s industrial strategy to ensure Britain continues to compete globally. We have already revised our forecast upwards for 2017.”
