Tourists spent record amount in UK this June
TOURISM to the UK shot up in June, with a 12 per cent increase in the number of overseas visitors compared to the same month in 2012.
In total, June saw 2.89m visits to the country, with 15.24m made between January and June this year.
The June numbers were flattered by a poor June last year when visitor numbers fell prior to the Olympics.
The UK is also earning more from international visitors, who spent £1.84bn in that month alone.
In the first six months of this year, tourists have spent £8.72bn around the country, an 11 per cent increase from the first half of 2012, and the highest figure ever recorded.
Tourism from north America increased by three per cent, while
11 per cent more travellers came to Britain from Europe and other countries. At the same time as more visitors choosing the UK as their destination, the number of UK residents heading abroad fell by two per cent, in comparison to June 2012.
Keith Beecham, overseas director at VisitBritain, the UK’s national tourism agency, commented: “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”.