Aussie arrivals to UK rebound after 2012 "blip"

By admin


Australian arrivals to the UK have rebounded from the 2012 slump with big-spending visitors forking out record amounts of money, latest figures from VisitBritain have shown.

Arrivals in 2013 climbed almost 8% to 1.07 million with expenditure rising 17% to GB£1.2 billion (A$2.16m), according to statistics released at the opening of Destination Britain trade show in Kuala Lumpur.

The recovery will come as a relief to tourism officials following the 9% arrivals decline in 2012, described at the time as a “blip” by VisitBritain chairman Christopher Rodrigues.

While the number is still shy of the record 1.09m who travelled to the UK from Australia in 2011, the sharp increase in spend and 12% rise in visitor nights will rejuvenate the industry.

Pent up demand following the Olympics, increased airline capacity into Britain and a strong exchange rate in 2013 were likely drivers for the growth.

Australia is the 10th largest market for the UK in terms of arrivals, generating 3% of all visitors, but is the fourth largest by expenditure, contributing 6% of all spend by international markets.

Britain has set targets to attract 1.2m Aussies by 2020 which, at current average spend figures, equates to an additional GB£100m (A$180m) per year injected into the British economy.

Overall, arrivals to Britain from Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) climbed 7% to a record 4.3 million with visitors spending GB£6.3b (A$11.4b), up 22% on 2012, another record.

VisitBritain chief executive Sandia Dawe heralded the importance of the region.

“Visitors from the APMEA region spend the most per visit of all tourists to Britain,” she said last night. “Destination Britain offers a crucial opportunity to promote the country’s tourism product to these valuable markets and work closely with the APMEA travel trade to ensure we are front of mind as a destination choice.”

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