Australians are cashing in on the weaker pound following the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union, spending up big as visitation reaches record levels.
Data from VisitBritain shows Australia is currently the fourth largest inbound market for visitor spend and 10th for inbound visits. The number of Australians visiting Britain increased by 10% to a new record of 174,000 in the first quarter of this year, while spending grew by 2% to 180 million the highest Q1 spending since 2014.
In 2016, 982,000 Australians visited the UK and spent over 1.06 billion in the country, with a typical Australian spending 1,079 per visit, which is 80% more than the average visitor to the UK.
According to the British International Passenger Survey, tourism spend from Australia has increased 59% over the past 10 years — translating to an additional 394 million spend between 2006 and 2016 — while visitor numbers grew at a more modest 3% over the same period. The Australian market also typically spends twice as long travelling around the UK, with the average stay totalling 13 days, compared to the UK average of seven days. Australians are also more likely to visit more regions of Britain than average tourist.
VisitBritain director Patricia Yates said the organisation was working with its partners and travel trade to grow the important Australian market.
“We’re working with airline partners to make it easier for Australians to get to Britain, promoting new and direct services into London and regional Britain,” she said.
Yates said that Visit Britain would showcase a number of new products and experiences across Britain.
“In 2017 and into 2018 we’ll have a particular focus on regional British rail journeys and itineraries focused on key regional food hubs such as South West England.
