China figures among Britain's top 10 most valuable inbound tourism markets

LONDON - Latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed China has moved into Britain's top 10 most valuable inbound markets, British tourism authorities said Monday.

VisitBritain said on Monday that records have been set last year for inbound visits with strong growth from Britain's major inbound markets including the United States and Europe and double digit growth from newer markets China and the United Arab Emirates.

Statistics showed stellar growth from China in 2015 with visits up 35 percent on 2014 to 528,661, and spend up 16.53 percent to 939.53 million pounds ($1.3 billion). The number of visits from the Chinese mainland reached 270,000, with an increase of 46 percent, and the total expenditure was 586 million, up about 18 percent.

Visits from the United States, the most valuable tourism source market of Britain, grew 10 percent to 3.3 million in 2015, with their spending increased to a record 3 billion pounds.

A record was also set for visits from the high-spending UAE, up 34 percent in 2015 to 347,000 with spend up 12 percent to 487 million pounds, it added.

"Britain boasts some of the best attractions in the world and drawing more visitors in from key markets like China and the United States is fantastic news for the whole country and shows our tourism strategy is working," said David Evennett, British Tourism Minister.

"Tourism is a fiercely competitive global industry so it is fantastic to see Britain competing strongly in our most valuable source markets. Our innovative digital marketing campaign continues to drive tourism across our nations and regions, spreading its economic benefits across the UK," said Patricia Yates, VisitBritain director.