American travellers give UK tourism a boost

Despite the global slowdown in the travel industry, and the recession causing most travellers to cutback on their travel plans, UK tourism has in fact witnessed an increase in the number of American visitors travelling to Britain this year.

An increase has been recorded in visitor numbers from both the US and Canada, taking the total number of North Americans to visit the UK this August to 460,000. August last year brought only 376,000 North American visitors to the UK.

The big-spending American tourists made a big difference to foreigner spending figures in the UK. This figure was put at £2.05bn for August this year, again a significant rise from last August’s figure of £1.90bn.

However, total number of foreign visitors to Britain saw a decrease from August last year. The period between January to September 2009 saw a 9% decline in over-all foreign visits compared to the same period in 2008. Foreigner spending took only a 1% dip for the same period when compared with last year though, which perhaps could be a result of the influx of big-spending North American tourists.

On the other hand, outbound visits from the UK have taken quite a tumble. Only 40.68 million visits overseas were made by Britons in the first eight months this year, down a significant 16% from last year’s figures. This is not a totally unexpected figure, as the trend to vacation at home has been noticed and documented throughout the year.

Campsites and other holiday spots around Britain have enjoyed an exceptionally good year, as many Britons wary of spending too much on foreign travel chose to holiday in the UK instead. However, the trend may not continue as strongly next year, thanks to the poor summer in the UK this year. Many British travellers have said they will look to travel abroad next year, to ensure they have some sun on their holiday.