The report with the title ‘What Do Our Visitors Buy’ provides additional understanding to the ‘Office for National Statistics’ International Passenger Survey 2016 found that almost 37.6 million people visited the UK in 2016 which accounted for a 4% increase in 2015 and spent £22.5b, up 2% from 2015.
Last year, American visitors spent maximum in the UK, as per the new report, accounting 24% of all visitor spending in restaurants. This is followed by France, Ireland and Spain. To everyone’s surprise, although Chinese rank high on retail spending, the nation occupies ninth position in terms of restaurant spending.
Gulf state visitors occupied the top spot in terms of spend-per-visitor, leading with Qatar followed by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
1.7% of the spending is done on part of the pubs, clubs and bars with visitors from the USA, France, Ireland and Spain spending the majority amount on various drinking establishments.
To quote Deirdre Wells, UKinbound’s chief executive officer, “We are delighted to present these results alongside industry partner VisitBritain. The findings provide a valuable insight regarding inbound visitors’ spending habits and provide further evidence of the incredible contribution that tourism makes to the UK economy. Further understanding our visitors will allow our members to tailor their itineraries; products and services, ensuring the UK remain a world class tourism destination.” To quote Sally Balcombe, VisitBritain’s chief executive officer, “We want Britain to be top of people’s list as a ‘must-go now’ destination. Understanding more about what our visitors want, and getting a fast read out of where they spend their money, will ensure we get the right products to them at the right time. The insights from this type of research are invaluable for the industry and crucial for us staying a competitive travel destination.”
