The highest ever spending in a month by visitors to the UK this August as visitors took advantage of a weak pound following its devaluation after Brexit as over £2.8bn was spent by visitors attracted to Britain.
The total number of visitors to the UK rose by 5% year-on-year in August – totaling to about 3.9 million, driven by a rise of 6% in the number of overseas visitors from the EU countries which reached to 2.4 million.
Bargain hunters from Europe, China and the US, intent on snapping up the luxury leather goods and the designer brands in the UK which are now available for lower prices compared to what they would have had to pay back home, flocked to the country driven by the decline of the pound following the Brexit vote. UK has been made far cheaper than before for overseas visitors.
There has been a double-digit growth in bookings in July at hotels in the Lake District as the advantage was also lapped up by the UK countryside.
Crowds have also been pulled to sites linked to popular books, films and TV programmes. Events that are linked to the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book and with the 200th anniversary of the death of Jane Austen, the Northern Irelandn locations used in the Game of Thrones are included in them.
During the Easter period however, there was a rise of 20% year-on-year in the number of visitors and the increase in the month of August was lower than that period.
While there has been weakening of the dollar compared to its position earlier in the year, there has also been some setbacks to visitors due to the terror attacks in Manchester and London.
A rise of 6% compared to last year was predicted by VisitBritain, the tourism body, as it predicts that the inbound visitors to the UK will touch 39.7m till the end of this year. And a new high in spending is expected with a rise of 14% where visitors are anticipated to spend £25.7 billion. there has been a revision of the numbers since January.
The tourism minister, John Glen, said: “These record-breaking figures for August reaffirm the UK’s position as a global go-to destination and show the continued strength of the sector.”
Even though the confidence of UK consumers and businesses have been dented by the uncertainty following the Brexit vote, Britain’s tourism and services industries have however got a boost as due to the surge in the number of tourists to the country throughout the year.
Bond Street in London has bene propelled to become one of the three most expensive store locations in the world and has overtaken Paris’s Champs-Élysées, even as British luxury brands such as Burberry saw strong sales driven by the tourism boom.
Since the cost of holidaying abroad has been increased by the low pound, there has been a trend towards staycations which has ultimately helped the UK economy.
A bumper Christmas is being expected by the tourist industry, said the VisitBritain director, Patricia Yates. “We are confident of a strong festive season and beyond as we showcase why our nations and regions should top people’s list as the must-go-now destination.”
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
The total number of visitors to the UK rose by 5% year-on-year in August – totaling to about 3.9 million, driven by a rise of 6% in the number of overseas visitors from the EU countries which reached to 2.4 million.
Bargain hunters from Europe, China and the US, intent on snapping up the luxury leather goods and the designer brands in the UK which are now available for lower prices compared to what they would have had to pay back home, flocked to the country driven by the decline of the pound following the Brexit vote. UK has been made far cheaper than before for overseas visitors.
There has been a double-digit growth in bookings in July at hotels in the Lake District as the advantage was also lapped up by the UK countryside.
Crowds have also been pulled to sites linked to popular books, films and TV programmes. Events that are linked to the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book and with the 200th anniversary of the death of Jane Austen, the Northern Irelandn locations used in the Game of Thrones are included in them.
During the Easter period however, there was a rise of 20% year-on-year in the number of visitors and the increase in the month of August was lower than that period.
While there has been weakening of the dollar compared to its position earlier in the year, there has also been some setbacks to visitors due to the terror attacks in Manchester and London.
A rise of 6% compared to last year was predicted by VisitBritain, the tourism body, as it predicts that the inbound visitors to the UK will touch 39.7m till the end of this year. And a new high in spending is expected with a rise of 14% where visitors are anticipated to spend £25.7 billion. there has been a revision of the numbers since January.
The tourism minister, John Glen, said: “These record-breaking figures for August reaffirm the UK’s position as a global go-to destination and show the continued strength of the sector.”
Even though the confidence of UK consumers and businesses have been dented by the uncertainty following the Brexit vote, Britain’s tourism and services industries have however got a boost as due to the surge in the number of tourists to the country throughout the year.
Bond Street in London has bene propelled to become one of the three most expensive store locations in the world and has overtaken Paris’s Champs-Élysées, even as British luxury brands such as Burberry saw strong sales driven by the tourism boom.
Since the cost of holidaying abroad has been increased by the low pound, there has been a trend towards staycations which has ultimately helped the UK economy.
A bumper Christmas is being expected by the tourist industry, said the VisitBritain director, Patricia Yates. “We are confident of a strong festive season and beyond as we showcase why our nations and regions should top people’s list as the must-go-now destination.”
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
