Brits making more visits abroad
Brits made 65.7 million visits abroad in 2015, up 9.4% on 2014.
They also spent more – a total of £3.5 billion – which is 9.8% up on the previous year without adjusting for inflation.
The number of nights spent abroad also increased, by 10.7% to 682.4 million nights.
When broken down, the latest ONS figures show the number of visits abroad for holidays grew by 9.4%, as did visits abroad to friends or family and for business, up 11.0% and 5.8% respectively.
Spending on holidays, visits to friends and business increased by 7.6%, 2.9% and 30.2% respectively.
Spain continued to be the most popular overseas destination for UK residents, accounting for 13 million visits, which is a 6.1% rise and 19.8% of the total number of visits abroad.
Giles Horsfield, head researcher on the ONS International Passenger Survey, said: "Visits abroad by UK residents have continued to rise but have not quite returned to pre-downturn levels."
Incoming tourism figures were also positive.
The number of visits by overseas residents rose by 5.1% to 36.1 million.
This was the fifth consecutive year of growth and the highest number of visits since the International Passenger Survey began in 1961.
Growth was particular strong from EU countries with 5.27 million visits, up 7% on the first three months of 2015 and setting a record first quarter.
Visits from North America were also up 7% compared to the same period last year.
VisitBritain director Patricia Yates said: "These best-ever first quarter figures are a tangible demonstration of the growing importance of inbound tourism to the UK economy, as we continue to showcase globally why our nations and regions should top the list as must-see destinations."
Holidays remain the main reason for visits to the UK, accounting for 13.9 million visits, a rise of 2.1%.
Business visits and visits to friends and family both showed growths of 7.1%.
A record 18.6 million overnight visits to London were made by overseas residents in 2015, an increase of 6.8% from 2014.
Overnight visits to the rest of England grew by 6.9% to 15.2 million.
Visits to Wales rose by 4% in 2015, but visits to Scotland fell by 4%.
Some parts of the country, such as York, which were affected by the severe flooding last year also saw a fall in visitor numbers.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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