Please give a summary of the travel and tourism industry dynamics in UK. I am looking for latest facts and figures, possibly 2011.

Answered by Priya Chetty on August 6, 2011 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

It is no surprise that that the UK – comprising of member states England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland is the sixth largest tourist destination in the world. In 2010, England alone attracted almost 30 million visitors with a collective spending of GBP 17.2 billion (Website, Bighospitality.co.uk). It is set to rise 1% by December 2011; while expenditure on travel increases by 2%. Similarly, the Irish tourism industry in 2010 posted impressive results with a 9% increase in tourist coming from England, North America and Asia.

The 2012 London Olympics is expected to bring an extra 500,000 visitors during the latter half of the year (Website, Guardian.co.uk). The recent Royal Wedding brought a staggering GBP 2 billion boost to the tourism industry (Website, Guardian.co.uk). The upward swing in number of visitors to UK is due to consumer spending. People are beginning to spend more on travel and leisure as the disposable income particularly in developing economies increases.