July 2023
Featured in this insight: Financial services, Transport & infrastructure
Upgrade announced to VisitBritain inbound tourism forecast: VisitBritain has announced a revision to its inbound tourism forecast for 2023, announcing that visits to the UK are expected to reach 37.5 million. This update is due to data for 2022 coming in stronger than anticipated and means that forecast visits are now at 92% of 2019 levels (40.9 million).
Inbound spending
Inbound visitor spending is forecast to reach £30.9bn which is a 9% increase on 2022 levels (£26.5bn) and 109% of 2019 levels, although this is more like 90% when looking in real terms taking inflation into consideration.The revision in forecast says VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates has been "led by the USA with spending by American visitors up 42% to a record £6 billion last year alone." She also noted that the recovery can be seen elsewhere, with spending by visitors from other major markets such as France and Spain also coming back strongly.
The forecast also highlights that East Asia including China, which was collectively the second most valuable market in 2019 is still well below the levels seen before the global pandemic.
Looking at inbound tourism in the longer term, the forecast is consistent with a return to levels seen prior to the pandemic, by the end of 2024.
Yates said: “Our priority has been to rebuild visitor value and we’ve been competing hard in markets showing strong recovery with our multi-million pound GREAT Britain marketing campaigns and working with trade so British destinations are sold internationally. We’ve also been investing in separate campaigns in the USA with British Airways and a pilot cooperative marketing programme with industry, converting the interest to visit into bookings now, boosting spend across Britain."
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