Record set for inbound tourism to UK in 2015

Inbound tourism grew for the sixth consecutive year in 2015, according to the new International Passenger Survey published by the Office for National Statistics. As a result, there were six million more visits in 2015 - an increase of 20% - compared with 2010.

Visitors' spend of £21.8b in the UK last year remained flat, in line with 2014's record-breaking figure. However, the amount visitors spent in December increased 1% year-on-year to £1.7b.

Patricia Yates, director of VisitBritain, said the growth was fantastic news for the UK economy and confirmed that the ambition to grow international visits by more than 20% to 42 million, with an additional £4.5b in visitor spend, was on track.

Visits from North America showed growth of 8% last year compared with 2014, with 3.9 million visits, while 2015 was a record year for visits from the high volume EU15 markets, with a 2% year-on-year increase to 19.9 million visits.

A record was also set for 5.6 million visits from the rest of the world, a 6% increase on 2014 figures.

With regards to the type of journeys made, record results were seen in the number of holiday visits to the UK with 13.7 million visits, 1% up on 2014, with a 7% increase to 10.5 million in those visiting friends and relatives.

Business trips increased by 6% to 8.7 million visits, while people coming for other reasons grew by 5% with 2.9 million visits.

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