Tourists flocking to the UK in record numbers

RECORD numbers of tourists are flocking to the UK to take advantage of the weak pound following the Brexit vote.

Some 10.75m visited Britain between April and June, 8pc more than during the same period in 2016 and the most for any quarter since records began in 1980. Visits were up 9pc between January and June, to 19.1m. Visitors are also spending more while here, splashing out £6.23bn during the quarter, 8pc more than in 2016.

Patricia Yates, director at tourism agency VisitBritain, said: ‘Very often people budget in their own currency, so because the pound is slightly weaker it means that they are getting more pounds for their money and so we can see the spend going up.

‘Of course, the currency is in our favour – that means that people are tending to spend, and it might motivate more people to come. But it won’t motivate people for that first trip, and really you don’t build longterm sustained growth of an industry on a weak currency.’

Visitor numbers from North America increased by 29pc to 1.47m, buoyed by the pound’s weakness against the dollar. Visitors from Europe increased 3pc to 7.73m. Howard Archer, an economist for consultants EY Item Club, said: ‘This is a welcome positive for the UK economy.’