Overseas visits by British travel in the year up until May of 2007 increased only slightly by one per cent, the Office of National Statistics has revealed, with the greatest increase being in far away locations.
The one per cent increase meant a rise in 400,000 visitors abroad year-on-year.
And most of this increase was attributed to the more exotic locales, with Europe and North America both seeing a dip in the number of UK travellers visiting of one per cent each.
On the other hand, travel to other parts of the world increased by nine per cent, for a total of 9 million visits.
Europe, with 53 million visits in the past year, remained well ahead in the number of total visits, but the figures indicate that the potential for growth is limited.
And more visits does not mean more profitable visits for those receiving UK tourists with open arms; despite a decrease in visits of one per cent from March to May of this year, UK visits generated more spending, to £8.4 billion.
The UK tourism industry should not worry either, as overseas visits to the UK in the 12 month period to May increased by five per cent, with the greatest increase coming in visits from European travellers and those from the rest of the world.
Spending over the past three months also increased, to close to £4 billion.
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