Brexit causes increase in visitors to the UK
A study by travel researcher ForwardKeys has noted a boost in UK tourism since the country’s decision to leave the European Union (EU). Twenty-eight days after the Brexit decision, there has been a 4.3-per-cent rise in the number of international bookings to the UK, compared to 2015’s figures. Prior to the vote, bookings had been down 2.8 per cent on the previous year.
The period after the vote has seen a five-per-cent jump in visitors from the EU and an 8.7-per-cent rise in non-European tourists. Both spikes can be seen as a direct reaction to the depreciated value of UK sterling.
ForwardKeys gathered these results through its pre-existing database, which the company says contains reservations handled by more than 200,000 online and offline travel agents. The data also shows a continuing increase in bookings for August through to October, with the latter seeing a 5.3-per-cent increase in bookings – although ForwardKeys states that this can be ‘partially explained by the time taken to obtain a UK visa and key events such as China’s Golden Week’.