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Tourism figures released have revealed that Britain is well placed to continue its encouraging visitor numbers experienced throughout the Olympic and Paralympic games.
September’s International Passenger Survey (IPS) figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that visitor numbers were up by one per cent to 2.63 million and the good news didn’t stop there, with visitor spending reaching a record £1.9 billion, seeing an increase of 17 per cent.
It is estimated that 680,000 visits from overseas to the UK in July, August and September were primarily due to the London 2012 Games or involved attending an official ticketed event. For July to September the average spend by people attending or involved in the Games was £1,350 – more than double all other visitors and another record for average spend.
Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain’s chief executive, said: “These figures offer us an ideal platform to create a golden tourism legacy going into 2013 and beyond. These encouraging numbers mean that visitors are on track to spend more in the UK than we initially forecast – a good result for the economy.
She added: “We’ve worked hard and fast to make sure we capitalise on the Olympic interest and positive buzz across the world. As soon as the Games came to an end we launched the next stage of our ‘GREAT Britain’ campaign, a £15 million phase inviting the world to ‘make their own memories’.
“Tourism is an industry that has proven time and time again it can boost the UK economy and with our ‘GREAT Britain’ activity, can provide long term sustained growth post Olympics.”
