The number of foreigners traveling to the UK on a british tourist visa for vacation or a UK business visa for a business trip dropped between April and June 2018, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics,
During these three months, 10.038 million foreign visitors were registered, a fall of 7.7% compared to the same period last year. This is the largest percentage decline since 2009, with the financial crisis having seen foreign visitors to the country fall considerably.
The country has not been able to continue on the good momentum "post-Brexit" of 2016. Indeed, in June 2016 after the announcement of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, the fall of the pound had made the country a more affordable holiday destination. And the number of foreign visitors had increased with a peak of 10.9 million over three months.
Falling below the symbolic threshold of 1.30 US dollar last year, the pound sterling rose to 1.40 dollar in the early spring of 2018, making the country less attractive to tourists who are more sensitive to exchange rate fluctuations.
The 10 million visits recorded between April and June 2018 resulted in expenditures of £ 5.8 billion, which represents a 10% decrease in spending compared to the same period last year.
In detail, the number of visitors from North America decreased by 10%, European visitors by 8% and visitors from around the world by 6%. Tourism, the most frequent reason for visits, decreased by 8%, business trips decreased by 15% and visits to friends or family (UK guest visa) by 6%.
If the Brexit negotiations were to result in the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without agreement, travel to Britain may be less easy for tourists from the European Union, who would then be considered any foreign visitor. For others this will change a priori nothing at all in the process for their visa.
According to the latest figures from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Britain is ranked seventh worldwide destination for tourism, in terms of visitors. In one year, she lost one place against Mexico.
