Tourists returning to the UK

New VisitBritain figures show tourists have started to flock back to the UK.

Incoming tourists are also spending more, with a contribution of £10.7b towards the economy, which was 9% higher than 2004.

VisitBritian chief executive Tom Wright said: "This is further positive news for Britain's £74b visitor economy. We are on track to welcome 29.3 million international visitors by the end of this year, who will spend £13.9b while they are here."

But the marketing body warned there remain challenges to be met.

For example, in the first nine months of the year there was a 2% fall in visits from higher-spending North Americans.

This was blamed on low consumer confidence in the USA, increased competition from rival destinations and the effects of the 7 July bombings.

Overall, the biggest boom in overseas tourism was from the Rest of the World region, where numbers climbed by 18% to 4.9 million. Visitor numbers from Western Europe rose by 11% to 14.7 million.

By Tom Bill

Get your copy of Caterer and Hotelkeeper every week - click here to subscribe and save 25%.