Inbound tourist spend forecast to hit record levels in 2018

Overseas visits to the UK are forecast to break through the 40 million mark for the first time in 2018.

Spending by overseas visitors to the UK is forecast to reach £26.9b in 2018, up 6.8% on 2017, which is expected to total £25.1b by year end.

This is according to forecasts from national tourism agency VisitBritain. It says that, following 2017's record year of inbound tourism, growth is set to continue in 2018. Overseas visits to the UK are forecast to reach 41.7 million, up 4.4% on 2017, which is expected to see 39.9 million visits by the year end.

VisitBritain director Patricia Yates said: "Tourism is one of the UK's most valuable export industries. It is also a fiercely competitive global industry and these results not only demonstrate Britain's continued ability to compete internationally for visitors, they are testament to tourism's importance as a driver of economic growth."

The UK was ranked third for tourism globally in the 2017 Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index (NBI) published last month, equalling its highest rank ever and up two places from last year.

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