VisitBritain Launch their Annual Review 2023/24

Today VisitBritain has launched its annual review, announcing that international visitors spent an additional £1.26 billion between April 2021 and July 2023 as a result of our international and domestic marketing activity. For every pound invested, visitors spent an additional £15 in Britain. These figures were announced at a launch event earlier today, outlining priorities and activities to support the sector and grow the visitor economy.

VisitBritain’s latest inbound tourism forecast estimates £32.5 billion will be spent by international visitors in the UK this year, up 5% on 2023, and up 14% on 2019. Looking at visits to the UK, 38.7 million visits are forecast, up 2% on the 38.0 million seen in 2023; however still 5% shy of 2019 levels.

Other key achievements include:

At least £7.6m in additional funds generated from VisitBritain and VisitEngland activity.
An additional £47 million in sales in 2022/23 through our work with the international travel trade
£20.9 million in direct return from the VisitBritain Business Events Growth Programme from 2018 to 2022

During the launch event, VisitBritain outlined the priorities for the year ahead – to drive a thriving tourism industry, creating economic prosperity across Britain. Plans include using the powerful pull of screen tourism and the booming set-jetting trend to boost inbound tourism. Our upcoming ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign will put filming locations and associated visitor experiences centre-stage, telling the story of Britain’s regional diversity to drive visits and spend across the regions.

Partnerships have been an underlying theme for VisitBritain in 2023/24 and will continue to be at the heart of thier work in the coming year.

You can read the full report at VisitBritain Annual Report & Statistics