A new study has ranked the UK as the fifth most powerful nation for tourism and travel, showing that visiting England is still extremely popular.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) looked at a range of factors to rank countries for their tourism power. The factors included foreign visitor spend, domestic visitor spend, growth in tourism over recent years and total tourism contribution to GDP.
China came out on top, while the US, India and Mexico ranked in second, third and fourth place. However, the UK was ranked as more powerful than tourism heavyweights such as Australia, France and Spain.
The WTTC’s chief executive officer, Gloria Geuvara, explained: “WTTC’s new report outlines power and performance rankings which showcase countries that have been most successful in growing their tourism sectors across the board.”
Tourism to the UK has benefited greatly from an influx of Chinese tourists who want to experience the charm of our historic, traditional towns and cities, such as London, Edinburgh, Windsor and Oxford. Historic sites such as Windsor Castle saw record numbers of tourists this year. Meanwhile, domestic tourism in the UK has soared this year thanks to the unseasonably warm summer and lack of rain.
Geuvara pointed out that 12 of the top 20 countries on the list were members of the G20. She added that this illustrates, “the importance of travel and tourism both to mature markets and the global economy.”
