The UK’s Olympic cities are becoming increasingly popular destinations for foreign tourists, results of research out today (Thursday) show.
Olympic Games 2012 host city London remains the most popular UK destination with 14.7 million overseas visits in 2010 and Edinburgh, second with 1.3 million.
However, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Windsor all make the top 20 in research conducted by VisitBritain.
Manchester – host city to both men’s and women’s Olympic football matches – was third most visited with 811,000 overseas tourists, followed by Birmingham with 740,000.
Fifth placed Glasgow, which will see Olympic football matches take place at Hampden Park, attracted 551,000 overnight stays by foreign travellers.
Cardiff at 12th is the next highest Olympic city, with 260,000 overnight stays. Newcastle (14th) and Windsor (20th) make up the final two Olympic towns in the top 20 most stayed in UK destinations last year.
The latest figures saw Bath climb up seven spots to become the 11th most stayed in town, while Southampton has entered the top 20 for the first time.
Over 300 towns have had at least 10,000 overseas visits since 2007, including Coventry, Fort William, Exeter, Stirling, Hastings, Gloucester, Shrewsbury, Ullapool, St Ives, Kendal, Truro and Fishguard.
VisitBritain strategy and communications director Patricia Yates said: “The 2012 Games will see sporting battles take place across Britain, offering a fantastic showcase for the diversity and wonderful experiences that can be found in every area.
“In May, the Torch Relay will start on its 70 day journey covering almost 95% of the UK, inspiring each and every one of us as it winds its way around the country.
“We are then spoilt for choice as we host the London 2012 Festival, the biggest festival the UK has ever seen, with artists from all over the world converging on British towns, cities and villages to engage with the British public and tourists alike.
“It is clear that next year presents us with some real opportunities to showcase Britain to new audiences around the world. Our GREAT campaign will be launching in key global cities, raising the aspiration to travel to Britain and backed up by GREAT offers from our commercial partners to encourage visitors to come now.”