UK tourism is still struggling to recover four years after the global Covid -19 pandemic, with the country facing a £2.8 billion shortfall in tourist spending and the number of overseas visitors still not back to pre-pandemic levels. More than four years since the UK was plunged into an unexpected lockdown during the global pandemic and travel was severely restricted, the country has been unable to restore its all-important tourist industry.
There were around 38 million overseas tourists visiting the UK last year, and while this figure has considerably increased for two consecutive years, it remains 7.1 per cent short of 2019’s tourist figure of 40.9m visitors, ONS data analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows.
While this number is predicted by VisitBritain to continue increasing in 2024, with tourist numbers expected to reach 38.7 million, this year will still not show a complete recovery from the pandemic, as there will still be a five per cent shortfall in visitor numbers. Spending has actually increased year-on-year, with numbers surpassing the last pre-pandemic value of £28.
4bn in 2019. The ONS suggests that overseas visitors to the UK spent £31.1bn in 2023, while VisitBritain predicts that the spending will increase to £32.
5bn this year. However, CEBR pointed out that these numbers are presented in nominal terms, meaning they are “significantly supported by the high rates of inflation that have prevailed in recent years”. As a .