British tourism industry showing strength

Britain’s tourism industry has been enjoying a fantastic summer, especially thanks to the warm weather a few weeks ago. And new figures released today show that the first half of this year was one of the best times for the tourism industry in a good while.

In that period Britain attracted 15.2m visitors, who spent a record £8.7bn in the UK economy. This June saw 12.9m visitors, a 12 per cent year on year increase.

Katie Beecham, overseas director for Visit Britain says: “If this trend continues it would see us welcome one overseas visitor every second of every day of every week of every month of the year.

“This is great news for the economy and a further sign that tourism is delivering growth across the country.”

June also saw a record number of visits from the “rest of the world” region, which includes the emerging economies of China, Brazil and India.

Hugh Robertson, minister for tourism, says: “Our tourism strategy is working. We did all we can to showcase the best of Britain to the world in 2012 and it’s paying off.

“The tourism sector has a big role to play in delivering economic growth and we must keep up this momentum and continue to promote Britain as a great place to visit.”

Real Business recently revealed the fastest growing tourism businesses in the UK. 

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