Highest November on record for inbound tourism to Britain
The number of holiday visitors to the UK from abroad in November 2016 rose by 32.4 per cent year on year, according to the British Hospitality Association’s Travel Monitor for the month. However the year to date figure for holidaymakers was down by one per cent and the number of Britons travelling abroad continues to rise. Spending by overseas visitors in total was up 14.1 per cent year on year.
Year to date, the analysis from the BHA Travel Monitor shows that the total number of visitors to the UK was up 2.8 per cent with most of the increase being in people visiting friend or relatives.
Ufi Ibrahim, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association, the leading UK tourism body said:
“Thankfully trading in November has been very encouraging and has helped offset poor performance earlier in the year. The low rate of sterling presents a great opportunity for our industry to welcome an increasing number of foreign visitors but we cannot and should not rely on fluctuating rates in the long term.
“With political and economic uncertainty increasing it is more important than ever to ensure UK tourism can compete. The UK continues to have on average twice the tourism VAT rate than that across Europe. Alongside businesses investing in the apprenticeship levy, rising business rates and the threat of online platforms such as Airbnb, this signals concern for businesses in the industry, 4 out of 5 of which are SMEs.”
The latest BHA Quarterly Inbound Travel Monitor, analysing Q3 of 2016, has also been released.