In Graphs: Spending by visitors to the UK up seven per cent over the past twelve months
The UK is becoming a more popular place to visit and spend money, apparently.
According to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) earnings (the amount brought into the economy through visits by overseas residents) have increased by seven per cent in the last 12 months.
This rise correlates with a rise in the number of people coming to the UK, with visits up eight per cent during the year to date and holiday visits up 12 per cent.
Interestingly, the gap between income (what visitors spend here) and expenditure (the money we take out of the country and pay abroad) is narrowing. This could be partly because of the strength of the pound, of course.
Slightly disappointingly, there is no great breakdown of the data between different nationalities, but the EU provides the majority. This leaves the tourism sector somewhat vulnerable to events across the channel.
As is to be expected, we British travel abroad more than people visit here, probably because we are a developed nation. What is interesting is that we are travelling more but spending less. We made five per cent more visits overseas in the last 12 months but spent three per cent less.