VisitBritain has upgraded its inbound tourism forecast for 2023 on back of a stronger than expected recovery, primarily driven by demand in the US.
Tourism authority VisitBritain now forecasts international visitor numbers will hit 37.5 million this year, just 8% below the 2019 level.
It estimates inbound visitor spending will reach £30.9 billion, up 9% on 2019 – although spending would be 10% down on 2019 taking inflation into account.
VisitBritain chief executive Patricia Yates said: “Our upgraded forecast is on the back of the stronger recovery we’re seeing, led by the US, with spending by American visitors up 42% [on 2019] to a record £6 billion last year alone.”
She said: “Spending by visitors from our major European markets, including France and Spain, is also coming back strongly.”
However, Yates said: “East Asia including China, our second-most valuable inbound market in 2019, is still well below pre-Covid levels.”
She noted the UK welcomed 31.2 million inbound visitors in 2022, down 24% on 2019, following two years of “extremely low visits due to the impact of Covid-19”.
These international visitors spent £26.5 billion in the UK last year, down 7% on 2019 in nominal terms and 17% down 17% allowing for inflation.
Yates explained: “Our priority has been to rebuild visitor value and we’ve been competing hard in markets showing strong recovery with our multimillion-pound GREAT Britain marketing campaigns and working with the trade so British destinations are sold internationally.
“We’ve also been investing in separate campaigns in the US with British Airways and a pilot cooperative marketing programme with industry, converting the interest to visit into bookings.”