The International Passenger Survey data covering Q3 2017 has revealed a record 12.7 million visits were made to English regions outside London in the first nine months of 2017 – a 4% increase compared to the same period in 2016.
Visits to Scotland increased 14% to 2.6 million during this time, while visits to Wales grew 6% to 909,000.
Of the English regions outside London, the North West and West Midlands saw the largest growth in overseas visits, both up 10% compared to the first nine months of 2016. Yorkshire and the East Midlands were the only regions to see a decline, with the number of visits dropping by 4% and 5% respectively. Visits to the North East were on par with the same period in 2016 at 425,000.
Overseas visitors spent £6.1 billion across England’s regions (excluding London) from January to September 2017, down marginally from the same period in 2016. Spending in Scotland was at a record high for any nine-month period, up 18% to £1.8 billion, however despite growth in visit numbers, spending in Wales fell by 8%.
Similarly, despite almost all English regions outside London experiencing growth in visits, only the North West and Yorkshire saw increased visitor spend in the first nine months of 2017, up 38% to £1.2 billion and 3% to £429,000 respectively. These figures suggest that while tourism has grown in almost all regions of the UK, the benefits from this growth are still accumulating in a relatively small number of areas.
London meanwhile experienced a 7% growth in visits during this period to a record 15.1 million, and spending increased 20% to £10.4 billion.
Overall, the UK welcomed a record 30.1 million visits between January and September 2017, up 7% on the same period in 2016. Visits from the USA topped the charts at 3.1 million, up 15% on 2016. Visitors from the USA also spent the most overall at just under £2.9 billion, up 16% on 2016.
Despite no growth in visits from France, this market still made the second highest number of visits after the USA at 3 million. Spending from French visitors was down slightly at just over £1 billion, making this market the third highest spender behind the USA and Germany (who spent a record £1.3 billion).
Looking at Q3 2017 specifically, the UK welcomed a record 10.9 million visits between July and September 2017, up 3% on Q3 2016, while spending increased 8% to a record £8.2 billion.
Holiday visits and VFR (visiting friends and family) visits were both up 7% in Q3 2017 and both breaking previous quarterly records for these visit types. Reflecting this growth, holiday spending increased 19% to £4.1 billion while VFR spending increased 20% to £2 billion – the best ever quarter for VFR spending.
In contrast, business visits and miscellaneous visits (including study) dropped 9% and 8% respectively, while business spending fell 20% to £1.2 billion, and miscellaneous spending fell 10% to £0.9 billion.
This difference between the leisure and business markets appears to reflect the varying impact of Brexit on different markets – while the fall in the pound has been attractive to leisure visitors, the accompanying uncertainty over the UK economy has likely suppressed business travel.
To view the Q3 2017 UK IPS highlights and market data please click here. A summary of regional highlights can be downloaded here.
The full quarterly report can be viewed here.
