The number of visits made to the UK by overseas residents rose in June but trips taken abroad by Britons fell sharply, official figures show.

The figures also revealed that while the amount spent so far this year by foreign visitors during their UK trips has held up well, spending overseas by Britons is well down on last year.

Overseas residents made 2.79 million visits to the UK in June 2009 compared with 2.66 million in June 2008, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

The amount spent during these trips to the UK in June 2009 was £1.56 billion compared with nearly £1.45 billion in June 2008.

In the first six months of this year, overseas residents made 14.23 million visits to the UK – 9 per cent down on the January-June 2008 total. However, spending for the first half of this year was only 1 per cent down at £7.28 billion.

The ONS also said UK residents made 5.78 million visits abroad in June 2009, spending £2.7 billion. In June 2008, they made 6.90 million visits overseas, spending £3.61 billion.

In the first six months of 2009, UK residents made 27.42 million trips abroad – 17 per cent fewer than in January-June 2008.

They spent £14.09 billion during their trips overseas in the first half of this year – an 18 per cent fall on the January-June 2008 total.

The recession appears to have particularly hit the transatlantic market, with the number of North American visits to the UK dipping 20 per cent in the first half of this year.

With the pound not as strong against the US dollar and the Canadian dollar as last year, the number of Britons visiting North America in the first six months of this year dipped 28 per cent, with June 2009 visits totalling only 320,000 compared with 495,000 in June 2008.

The full article appeared in The Scotsman newspaper.
Date: 14 August 2009
By Peter Woodman
Source: The Scotsman