According to official statistics released today, there had been a record number of international tourists visiting the UK in the first nine months of last year. 30.1 million inbound visits were recorded, which is 7% higher than 2016.
Visits from China increased by a whopping 33% to 268,000 visitors that spent a record £557 million while in the UK. Oversea visits from Spain grew by 11% to 1.9 million, with a spending of £861 million. Record numbers come from German visitors as well who overall paid out £1.3 billion.
The figures are not based only on tourism revolved around London. Other English regions received record numbers as well, with 12.7 million people visiting cities and places all over England. Scotland was up 14%, while Wales grew with 6%. London also saw an increase in international tourists, with 7% more than January to September 2016.
“It is fantastic news that towns and cities across the UK are benefiting from the boom in tourism, and as the new Tourism Minister I want to ensure that this trend continues,” said Michael Ellis, the Tourism Minister. “Promoting the UK as a must visit destination to the rest of the world is paramount in ensuring that local areas can reap the benefits of tourism and I am committed to working with the sector to drive economic growth across the UK.”
The only regions that saw no growth at all or even a decline in international visitors were the North East with no change from 2016, Yorkshire which was down 4%, and East Midland down 5%.
