Britain has experienced the biggest fall in foreign visitors since 2009, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics.
Much of last year’s increase was driven by a dramatic slump in the value of the pound that occurred in the wake of the Brexit referendum, especially against the euro and US dollar.
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The latest figures “show Britain has been unable to sustain these gains, with the segment of highly price-sensitive visitors possibly having been exhausted,” Reuters says.
Tourism, the most common reason for a visit, was down by 8%, business trips fell by 15%, while visits to see friends and family rose by 6%, it reports. The biggest drop was seen among North American visitors (10%) and European visitors (8%).
Amid a strengthening pound, total spending by foreign visitors fell by 10% compared with a year earlier to £5.8 billion.
Overall, Brits spend more on visits abroad than foreigners spend in the UK, the Daily Telegraph reports. In the period from April to June 2018 British tourists spent £11.6bn abroad, almost double the amount spent by international visitors to the UK.
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