Overseas trips by Britons down 16 percent

www.statistics.gov.uk

The latest International Passenger Survey is showing that Britons went on 16 per cent fewer overseas trips from January through April this year, as compared with the same period in 2008.

According to the figures, the economic climate is still having a negative impact on international travel.

The number of incoming visitors to the UK was also down, dropping by 10 per cent during the same period, to 8.9 million visits.

Visitor spending totalled just over £4.4 billion, a decline of one per cent for the four-month period, before adjustments for inflation.

Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain’s chief executive was upbeat. She said: “These are stronger figures than we have seen for the start of the year and further evidence that a weak pound has indeed drawn increasing numbers of visitors to Britain.”

Dawe went on to say: “However, sterling is already recovering against key currencies, so we cannot rest on our laurels and, as we enter another summer season, must continue to drive awareness of Britain’s appeal and why they should visit now.”

VisitBritain downgraded its 2009 forecast, and is now expecting the number of inbound visits for the year to drop to 31.4 million, which represents a further fall of 300,000 visits since it issued its last forecast in December.

It is warning that inbound visits could drop by up to five per cent, making the year’s total visitor numbers just 30.3 million.

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.statistics.gov.uk