The UK will see a 3 per cent rise in overseas visitors next year, tourist chiefs have predicted.
And the amount the foreign visitors will spend during their trips in 2013 is set to increase by 2.5 per cent – to a record £19 billion.
VisitBritain said the success of this year’s London Olympics was set to encourage even more foreigners to visit all parts of the UK next year. The travel experts believe the UK will welcome one million extra visitors from next year, with most coming from Europe and the USA.
The organisation’s annual review, due out today, will reveal how eight in ten overseas visitors said they had felt either very or extremely welcome in Britain.
It also found 85 per cent were so impressed with the accommodation, sights and people they encountered in the UK that they were now very or extremely likely to recommend a UK holiday to friends and family.
VisitBritain chairman Christopher Rodrigues said: “2012 has shown just what Britain can offer. It has re-energised our image overseas and triggered the desire to visit our country.
“Our job now is to turn aspiration into action. And the best way to do that is to continue the exceptional levels of collaboration between the industry, the public sector and the government that we saw in 2012.
“We also need to keep the extraordinary spirit of the Games volunteers alive in our visitor welcome.”
