Tourism in the UK is at last making a recovery, with tourists from America, Continental Europe and the rest of world flocking back. The latest figures released by VisitBritian reveal that 6.5 million tourists arrived in the UK between March and May, 22% more than in 2003 and the highest ever recorded for that period.
The main drive behind the upsurge was Western European visitors and an increasing number of long-haul travellers from outside North America. Nearly 4.5 million tourists arrived from Western Europe, an increase of 21% year on year.
High-spending North American tourists made up only one million of the recorded visits during the three months, however, affecting visitor spend, which rose only 10% to £2.7m.