Average spend by Olympics visitors was double that of other tourists

The average spend by overseas visitors to the Olympic and Paralympic Games was more than double all other travellers, according to new tourism figures released this morning.

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September’s Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey also reveals that visitor numbers were up by 1% (2.63m) and that visitor spending reached a record £1.9b (an increase of 17%), Overseas visitor spend in the UK is now 5% higher than in the first nine months of 2011.

Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain’s chief executive, said that the figures offer an ideal platform to create a golden tourism legacy for the future.

"The numbers mean that visitors are on track to spend more in the UK than we initially forecast â€" a good result for the economy,” she explained.

“It’s quite clear that Olympic visitors generally spent a lot more, often visiting for longer, as well as buying tickets for various events and staying in hotels.

“We’ve worked hard and fast to make sure we capitalise on the Olympic interest and positive buzz across the world. As soon as the Games came to an end we launched a new £15m phase of our GREAT Britain campaign,”

Last month VisitBritain launched a consultation to grow inbound tourism to Britain, with an ambition to reach 40 million visitors by 2020, a 3% year on year increase.

VisitBritain launches latest stage of GREAT marketing campaign post Olympics >>

VisitBritain launches consultation on strategy to deliver ‘golden legacy' for tourism >>