The number of increasingly affluent travellers to the UK from China is set to soar by 89% by 2014 spurred by a growing interest in British football, according to VisitBritain.
This will bring up to 100,000 extra Chinese visitors to the UK, the fastest increase in tourism to the UK from any country.
A report from the UK tourism agency links the increase in Chinese tourism with the growing popularity of English Premier League football, which is drawing weekly audiences of millions in the country.
The fast-growing ‘BRIC’ economies – Brazil, Russia, India and China – are poised to become the fastest growing source countries for tourists to the UK.
The forecast comes in a 60-page analysis of the state and prospects of UK tourism ‘Overseas Visitors to Britain, Understanding Trends, Attitudes and Characteristics’ published today.
The bulk of the increase in tourism to Britain over the next four years will continue to come from traditional European and North American markets.
China is just one place in the league table behind Brazil, which is expected to send 18% more tourists – about 35,000 people – to the UK over the same period.
Tourism from India is forecast to grow by 29%, with more than 100,000 extra visits. Visitors from Russia are expected to jump by 24%, with 50,000 more people travelling to Britain.
The largest numbers of new visitors will come from France, Ireland, the US, Germany and Spain – the UK’s traditional top five markets for visitors. Together they are forecast to send 3.3 million more visitors to Britain between them by 2014.
Ireland, which was the second largest market in 2008, is expected to fall to fourth in the rankings by 2014 despite 18%, while there is expected to be faster growth from the US (30%) and Germany (29%). France is expected to remain top of the visits league, growing by 12%.
But visits from North America were down by 6% in the first seven months of this year on the back of an overall 6% drop in inbound tourism in 2009.
The report stresses that the forecasts for increased inbound tourism depend on no new limits to airport capacity, no new visa regulations, no “external shocks’’ and the continuation of worldwide promotional campaigns by VisitBritain and its strategic partners.
VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said: “This in-depth research shows that over the next few years the prospects for the UK tourism industry should be positive.
“Visitor numbers overall were down by 6% last year, due largely to a sharp drop in international business travel. But, thanks to a good deal of hard work, we were still able to grow the inbound holiday tourism market by 5%, outperforming many European competitors.
“The challenge for Britain is that competition is getting tougher every year and we are not immune from Government demands for savings.
“But with the aid of the once in a lifetime boost presented by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games I am confident that we will come through the challenges ahead.’’