UK Visitor Arrivals Spending Up 19% in October 2019

Visitors to the UK spent £2.3 billion in October 2019, the highest ever for the month and 19% more than in October 2018.

During the month, there were 3.4 million overseas visitor arrivals to the UK, a rise of 3% on October 2018.

These latest statistics from VisitBritain show that it was a record-breaking August to October period for both overseas visits to the UK, and for visitor spending.

August 2019 was the highest month ever for both inbound visits and spending, and only the third time ever that the four million mark for inbound visits to the UK has been surpassed in a single month.

Quarterly data shows strong growth in spending and visits from the US, the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound tourism market.

Visitors from the US spent a record £3.4 billion in the UK between January and September 2019, up 23% on the same period in 2018. A record 3.5 million US arrivals visited the UK during that time, an increase of 13% y-o-y.

There were also a record number of visitor arrivals from China between January and September 2019 with 321,000 people, an increase of 8% on the same period in 2018. Spending  by those arrivals during this period jumped 11% y-o-y to £553 million.

VisitBritain Director, Patricia Yates, said, “These record-breaking figures underpin a longer-term pattern of growth from our long-haul high spending markets, demonstrating Britain’s continued ability to compete internationally for visitors in a fiercely competitive global environment. The results also reinforce tourism’s importance as a driver of economic growth and its role in promoting a positive, welcoming image of Britain globally. Working with partners we are telling customers about experiences they can only have here, converting the inspiration to visit into bookings and encouraging visitors to discover more of the country, boosting local economies.”

These latest figures bring the number of overseas arrivals to the UK from January to October to 32.8 million, up 2% on the same period in 2018 with visitors spending rising 8% to £21.2 billion.

Looking ahead, VisitBritain has predicted that spending by visitor arrivals to reach a record £26.6 billion this year, a 6.6% increase on the expected spending in 2019 of £25 billion.

The number of overseas arrivals to the UK is forecast to rise to 39.7 million in 2020, the highest ever.

Tourism is now worth an estimated £127 billion to the UK economy.

See also: What about the UK's outbound market? How did the strength of the Thai Baht and the weak Pound affect Thailand's arrivals from the UK in 2019? Exclusive FHD video Interview with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and What does TAT have planned for TTM+ 2020?

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