The CEO of the European Tourism Association, ETOA, Tom Jenkins told Parliament that Brexit is already harming the inbound travel industry, damaging productivity and asked for assurances that hiring non-UK EU workers remains free from bureaucratic burdens, since language skills are particularly important in the industry.
Overseas visitors to the UK spent £2.8 billion in August, up 3% on the same month last year, and the highest ever. It was a record August for inbound visits to the UK, with 3.9 million visits, up 5% on the same month in 2016.
The weak pound has made the UK one of the world's best-value travel destinations, according to publisher Lonely Planet. Sterling has fallen sharply against the dollar and the euro since last year after ongoing Brexit uncertainty.
The number of visitors to the UK rose to 3.5 million in June, up 7% from the same month last year, according to official figures. The number of visitors from North America shot up by 34%, and visitors overall spent £2.2bn, a rise of 2%, the UK Office of National Statistics, ONS, said.
The weakness of sterling was behind a surge in the number of tourists visiting the UK in the first three months of 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The number of holidaymakers coming to the UK rose by 21.1%, although the number of business visitors declined.
VisitBritain, the UK government’s agency with a budget of nearly £30 million a year and tasked with bringing as many visitors to the UK as possible, releases a detailed inside guide on tourists from most destinations for use by British hoteliers and operators.