Record number of tourists flock to the UK and spend more than ever thanks to the 2015 Rugby World Cup
The tourism boom to the UK shows no signs of letting up, with a record number of international visits to the country recorded in October.
The Rugby World Cup drove tourism figures sky high, with fresh figures from VisitBritain showing that a new record was set in October, not just for the number of visits in the year to date, but also in the amount spent.
The economic boost from tourism hit £2bn in October alone. In 2015 to date, the 30.5m people that have visited the country have spent a total of £18.4bn. Visitor spend is up nine per cent against last year, as visitors spend more than ever before.
Patricia Yates, director of VisitBritain, thanked the Rugby World Cup for the boom:
With almost half a million international visitors having attended Rugby World Cup matches and events across 11 host cities, including places which wouldn’t necessarily be on the immediate radar for many overseas visitors, we can be confident that the economic benefits from October’s record results are being felt across many of our regions.
Visits from our closest neighbours in the EU region are growing fastest, up 14 per cent from last year to hig 17m in 2015 so far.