Tourism to the UK tumbled in Jubilee month
TOURISM to the UK dropped in June when compared to the same time last year, official figures revealed yesterday, while Brits made more trips abroad.
Despite tourism to these shores being higher throughout 2012 so far, in June alone the number of visits fell to 2.6m. In June 2011 the figure had been 2.9m.
Income from international visits declined as well, with earnings down from £1.7bn to £1.6bn, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
“With the relative strength of sterling making European travellers think twice about heading to the UK, not even the pomp and ceremony of the Queen’s Jubilee could stop June’s tourist numbers dwindling,” commented Barclays’ head of hospitality and leisure, Mike Saul.
“There was a silver lining for outbound operators though as more Brits took to the skies in search of sunshine, encouraged by the late and additional bank holiday.”
Britons made half a million more trips abroad in June than at the same time last year, with visits abroad totalling 6.1m, compared to 5.6m in June 2011.
Despite June’s fall in tourism to the UK, seasonally-adjusted international visits in the three months to June were still up three per cent compared to quarter one.