Number of holiday visits to UK climbs sharply after Brexit vote

The number of overseas holiday visits to the UK saw its sharpest year-on-year increase for at least seven years in the three months to January, official figures show.

It comes as the slump in the pound since the Brexit vote has made Britain a bargain destination for tourists - but made Britons' holidays abroad more expensive.

Sterling has fallen by 17% against the US dollar and by 12% against the euro.

Overseas (Tel Aviv: OVRS.TA - news) residents' holiday trips to the UK rose by 22% year-on-year to 2.9 million in the three months to January, according to provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS said it was the steepest increase since at least 2010.

Figures for UK residents travelling abroad on holiday also showed a rise, by 8%, to 6.4 million.

Britons generally make more visits and spend more money abroad than foreigners travelling to the UK.

For January alone, all overseas visits to the UK, including for business and to see friends and family, were up 11%.

Spending by those visitors rose 15% compared with the same month last year to £1.5bn.

UK residents' trips abroad rose by 9%, with their spending climbing 5% to £2.6bn.

However, British trips to North America bucked the trend, dropping by 17%.

The ONS did not say what was behind the data.

But Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Markit (Stuttgart: A1139A - news) , said the figures "indicate that the sharply weakened pound is encouraging more visits to the UK from abroad and more spend by visitors".

It comes as separate figures from the London Luxury Quarter, comprising businesses in the capital's high-end shopping district, showed a steep rise in tourist spending last month.

International tax free shopping spending rose 54% in February compared with the same month a year ago, including a 110% increase from Chinese visitors.