UK visitors fell in December, says BITOA

The number of overseas visitors to the UK in December fell by 2.18% compared with the same month in 2001, says the British Incoming Tour Operators Association (BITOA).<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

For the year of 2002 as a whole, numbers were down by 1.77% compared with 2001, according to the association's monthly Business Barometer.

BITOA said the figures "are not the best of results but probably, under the circumstances, as good as we could have hoped for. They are certainly better than earlier forecasts had indicated."

The market remains uncertain because of the current political situation and prospects for 2003 continue to remain fragile, BITOA added.

by Jason Blackwood