Overseas visitor spending in the UK in September increased 21% year on year

Overseas visitors to the UK spent £2.4b during September, a year-on-year increase of 21%. However, the announcement of the September figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has highlighted that the same month in 2018 had seen an unusually low level of spending.

There was a total of 3.1 million overseas visitors during the month, up by 3% compared to September 2018.

At the same time, UK residents made 7.8 million trips abroad in September 2019, an increase of 3%. They spent £5.8b, 10% more than the same month the previous year.

This meant that UK residents made more trips abroad than international visitors to the UK, and the total amount spent by UK residents during visits abroad was higher than the total spent by international visitors to the UK.

Mike Saul, head of hospitality & leisure at Barclays: “Once Christmas Day is done and dusted for another year, consumers’ thoughts will turn very quickly to their next holiday in sunnier climes and with today’s ONS figures showing that almost eight million of us headed overseas in September alone, the end of the summer break for many, travel operators will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of a rush of bookings for next summer.

"On the flip side, the number of overseas travellers coming to the UK in the same month topped three million and they spent a cool £2.4b here showing that visitors just can’t seem to get enough of Destination UK and its enduring appeal as a world-class holiday destination. In an increasingly competitive global travel marketplace, these figures should be encouraging to the UK tourism industry.”

During the quarter July to September there was a total of 11.2m visitors to the UK a 4% increase from the same period in 2018. They spent £8.4b, a 17% increase from the year before.

During the same period July to September There were 24.4m UK residents a 1% increase from the same period in 2018. They spent £17.6b a 7% increase from the year before.