Spending by overseas visitors to Britain to double by 2020

Annual spending by overseas visitors to the UK is set to almost double by 2020, a report released yesterday by the VisitBritain organisation revealed.

Inbound visitor spending is currently worth around £16 billion, with this figure likely to rise to £31 billion in 2020, the report said.

Tourism spending in the UK by domestic residents is set to grow more slowly, but will still rise from the current £72 billion a year to £113 billion in 2020.

Compiled by professional services company Deloitte and forecasting company Oxford Economics, the report said tourism was worth £115 billion to the UK economy and was keeping 2.6 million people in work - making it Britain's fifth-biggest industry.

In 2010 the number of jobs created by the tourism sector is forecast to rise by 10,000, which will mean that 8.7 per cent or one in every 12 jobs in the UK is supported by the visitor economy.

By 2020 the visitor economy is forecast to account for 2.9 million jobs - 250,000 more than today.

VisitBritain chairman Christopher Rodrigues said: "This research reaffirms the importance of tourism to the British economy.

"Tourism is a powerful economic driver, and investing in tourism delivers immediate economic benefits - overseas visitors pay around £3 billion a year to the Treasury alone."

He went on: "Tourism is one of the few industries that supports jobs across the country in our cities, seaside towns and rural areas, cannot be outsourced and has the potential to grow and support 250,000 more jobs with continued investment."