Overseas visitors to UK hits 31 million

Visits by overseas residents to the UK rose from 29.5 million to 31 million during the 12 months which ended July, an increase of 5%, official figures reveal.

The number of North Americans coming to the UK rose by 7% (to 4.5 million), there were 4% more Western European tourists (to 19.8 million), while the number of visitors from the other parts of the world rose by 8% (to 6.7 million).

In the same 12-month period, visits abroad by UK residents rose by 3% from 65.8 million to 67.7 million, said the Office for National Statistics.

The number of visits to Western Europe increased by 1% (to 50.7 million), visits to North America decreased 6% (to 4.7 million) but rose to other parts of the world by 13% (to 12.3 million).

Over the same period, the number of visits overseas by UK residents decreased by 1% (to 17 million) when compared with the previous three months, while the associated spending remained broadly the same at £8.4b.

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Overseas visitors numbers to UK rise >>

By Daniel Thomas

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