Massive Brexit boost to tourism in UK sees 3 MILLION new tourists on way |

Massive Brexit boost to tourism in UK sees 3 MILLION new tourists on way

Thu 8:03 pm +00:00, 11 Aug 2016 1

posted by Gordon

TOURISTS from across the world are flocking to Britain in unprecedented numbers the wake of the Brexit vote.

By Romina McGuinness in Aix en Provence Tue, Aug 9, 2016

tourists on open top bus and brexit ballot paper

The decreased value of the pound has encouraged tourism in the UK

Since the Leave camp was successful in its bid to break from the EU, the value of the British pound has gone down more than 10 per cent against the euro and the dollar.

Not fabulous news for British tourists heading abroad but a bargain for millions of tourists, who are now flocking into the UK in order to make the most of the advantageous exchange rates.

The number of Europeans planning to visit the UK is up by more than five per cent – meaning another 1.5 million will be spending money here.

According to travel information firm Forwardkeys, flight bookings were down 2.8 per cent compared with the same period last year one month before Brexit, and up 4.3 per cent in the weeks following the vote.

But, post-Brexit, it is the rise in bookings from outside the EU that is the most astonishing: an increase of 8.6 per cent – equating to about 3 MILLION more tourists. Foreign tourists coming from outside the eurozone tend to visit the UK in the autumn, as it can take several months for them to get a visa.

tourists looking at map in London

GETTY: The number of Europeans planning to visit the UK is up by more than five per cent

But Leave campaigners cannot take all the credit. The recent wave or terror attacks in France and in Belgium also helps to explain why the UK has turned into a tourist hot spot.

Tourism in France has slumped 10 per cent year on year.

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/698141/massive-brexit-boost-tourism-uk-million-new-tourists

11 Aug 2016 8:45 pm

Tom74 says:

The extra visitors are indeed good news, although it is not hard to see why given the huge variety and quality this country has to offer.
However, for every tourist priced in to a holiday in the UK because of the collapse in the pound, there is probably a British person priced out of a holiday they were hoping for in the EU or USA, not to mention the inevitable rise in the price of imported goods (and most of our food is imported).
The Leave campaign was supposed to be about taking back our country not imprisoning us in our country.
Extra tourists do not change the fact that British people are already effectively poorer because some people voted to leave the EU – and the Leave campaign told us we would be richer not poorer. Perhaps Farage and Johnson would care to explain what is happening.