Tourists continue to visit UK but spend less

New tourism figures show foreign visitors are still opting for the UK as a destination, but are increasingly frugal while they are here.

The latest International Passenger Survey shows overseas residents' visits to the UK increased 2% in the three months to November 2005, to 7.6 million, compared with the previous three months.

However, their collective spending fell 2% to £3.44b.

In contrast, UK residents are visiting and spending more overseas, with visits aboard in the same period up 1% to 16.7 million and spending jumping 4% to £8.17b.

This difference between earnings and overseas spending left the UK with a deficit of £4.72b in the three months to November 2005, a £370m increase on the pervious three months.

Overall, the UK tourism deficit for the full year to November 2005 was a whopping £18.2b, compared with £17.2b the year before.

The findings mirror a report early this month by tourism body VisitBritain, which found that although visits to the UK had almost doubled in the past 25 years, spending had failed to keep pace.

- Visit London has forecast a mixed year for the London tourism sector in 2006. At a breakfast briefing today it said international visits, especially those in Eastern Europe and Asia, would continue to increase during the year. But domestic tourism is expected to decline as UK residents rein in their spending and continue to take advantage of cheap flights to travel abroad. Overall, total visits to London during 2006 are forecast grow 1.3% year-on-year to 26.6 million, with spending up 2.7% to £9.8b.
By Chris Druce

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