Current Issues Note 37: International tourism in London

Key information

Publication type: General

Publication date: Tuesday 25 September 2012

The number of international tourists visiting the capital has continued to recover in 2011, building on the increase in 2010. Total annual visits to London were up on 2010 by 4.0 per cent to 15.289 million. That compares with a 3.3 per cent increase across the UK as a whole.
In terms of spend, London received ten per cent more international visitor spend than the remainder of the UK regions put together. Total international visitor spend in the capital increased by 7.7 per cent to £9.411 billion. This compares with a 6.5 per cent increase in the comparable figure for the UK as a whole.
For London, both visitor numbers and spend increased on 2010 from all three global regions: North America, Europe and ‘other countries’. North American visitor spend was up by 7.4 per cent, European visitor spend rose by 10.5 per cent and spending from ‘other countries’ increased by 3.5 per cent.