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Foreign visitor decline shows no sign of let-up
Latest figures show a continuing slump in tourist numbers visiting the UK, with a 3.4% fall in October.
The decline shows no sign of abating, according to UKinbound, which compiled the figures from its 230 member companies.
“London continues to outperform the rest of the UK but concerns about the US and UK economies, particularly how this will affect business travel, are making everyone more cautious in their projections for the first quarter of 2008 and beyond,” the organisation said.
“Leisure travel remains under severe price pressure and we can expect this to remain the case for the near future.”
Travel from North America has been badly affected due to plummeting consumer confidence in the wake of the credit crunch but all long haul travel has been hit. The continued weakness of the US dollar also remains a “great concern”.
Visitors from Europe, whose stays are generally shorter and who spend less, are not as badly in decline “and there is some hope that if the euro continues to appreciate against sterling, we could see this sustained through 2008,” UKinbound said.
A poll of members found that only 14% feel responsibility for tourism should remain with the Department of Culture Media and Sport, which is cutting VisitBritain’s budgets for the next three years. While 44% thought tourism should shift to another government department, almost 42% believed a move would make no difference.
“It would seem that whilst a large majority of members are unhappy with DCMS’s stewardship of tourism, nearly half of them have little confidence in another department doing any better,” UKinbound said.
by Phil Davies
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