International Travel
Visits to the UK fell in 2008
Overseas residents' visits to the UK and UK residents' visits abroad
The number of visits to the UK fell in 2008 for the first time since 2001, the year that saw the outbreak of foot and mouth disease and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Overseas residents made 31.9 million visits to the UK in 2008 compared with 32.8 million in 2007, a fall of 2.7 per cent.
The decline was most marked during the last quarter of the year, with visits falling 13 per cent on the same period in 2007. Business visits were particularly hard hit with an overall fall of 25 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the equivalent quarter in 2008 (from 2.4 to 1.8 million visits).
There was a drop in the number of residents visiting the UK from most countries during 2008, although there were some modest increases in visits from France (up 6.8 per cent to 3.6 million) and the Irish Republic (up 3.4 per cent to 3.1 million). This, combined with a drop in visits from the USA (from 3.6 million to 3.0 million, a fall of 17 per cent), meant that France took first place in the table of countries whose residents made most visits to the UK. The Irish Republic rose to second place, while the USA slipped to third.
Regionally, London remained by far the most-visited city or town in the UK by overseas residents, with a total of 14.8 million visits, followed by Edinburgh (1.2 million), Manchester (0.9 million), Birmingham (0.8 million) and Glasgow (0.6 million).
Residents of the UK also made fewer visits abroad in 2008. In total, 69.0 million visits were made, down 0.6 per cent on 2007. As with inbound visits, the downturn was felt most strongly during the last quarter when visits abroad dropped 9.0 per cent.
The destination of UK residents travelling abroad remained broadly the same as in previous years. Spain and France dominated the list, accounting for 36 per cent of all visits (13.8 million and 10.9 million respectively), followed by the USA, the Irish Republic, Italy, Germany and Portugal. Visits to many countries fell during 2008, but there were some exceptions with large increases in visits to Romania, Mexico, Egypt and Slovakia.
Despite the decline in the number of visits, spending on trips both to and from the UK reached record levels during 2008. Overseas residents coming to the UK spent a total of £16.3 billion, an increase of 2.3 per cent on the 2007 figure, while spending by UK residents abroad rose 5.2 per cent to £36.8 billion.
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Monthly overseas travel and tourism release