Arrivals to the UK are expected to grow in 2012, despite fears that visitors will be displaced by the Olympic Games, according to a new report.
Euromonitor International’s Travel Industry Global Overview predicted UK arrivals would grow almost 4% to reach 29.4 million arrivals for the year.
“By 2016, numbers are expected to have recovered to pre-crisis 2007 levels,” Euromonitor said.
France will remain the UK’s leading inbound market, followed by Germany and then the US. But the report confirmed the Olympics would be heavily dependent on domestic visitors which should “mitigate the negative effects of the ongoing Eurozone crisis”.
On the other hand, European tourism will struggle in 2011 as the Eurozone continues to encounter economic difficulties, the report projected.
Outbound tourism and intra-regional tourism have been hit by austerity measures, lower disposable incomes and rising unemployment rates.
While it revealed strong growth in arrivals to Europe from emerging economies such as Brazil and China in 2011, continued increases were “unlikely to compensate” for declining intra-regional visitors in 2012.
Games won’t slow UK arrivals: Euromonitor
