As Britain’s national tourism agency, VisitBritain gears up to host top travel buyers from across the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries on its ‘Destination Britain Middle East and Asia’ trade mission, the latest official statistics show travelers from the GCC are visiting the UK in record numbers, and spending more on their trips.

Latest official statistics, for the first six months of 2024, show there were a record 512,000 visits from the GCC to the UK, up 25% from January to June last year. Visitors from the GCC also spent a record £1 billion on their trips in the UK in the first half of 2024, up 6% on 2023.

To harness this growth and compete for visitors, VisitBritain is hosting 20 buyers from the GCC on its upcoming ‘Destination Britain Middle East and Asia’ trade mission, taking place from 20-to- 22 November in Bengaluru, India. The three-day event sees dozens of UK tourism industry suppliers meet with more than 70 top buyers from China, the GCC, Japan, India, and South Korea, to drive business to Britain.

Speaking ahead of the trade event, VisitBritain’s Deputy Director of Middle East and Asia Carol Maddison said:

“With the growing airline connectivity through regional gateways alongside the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme, travel to the UK is now easier and more accessible for GCC nationals. Working with our trade partners including at our Destination Britain Middle East and Asia trade event, we’re harnessing the strong growth we’re seeing, showcasing Britain’s latest tourism products and experiences to drive bookings.

“We want visitors to explore outside of London through our regional gateways, staying longer and discovering exciting destinations across our nations and regions, spreading visitor spending across more of Britain.”

The trade mission comes as VisitBritain gets set to roll out its international ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign. Launching in early 2025, the campaign will use the powerful draw of film and TV locations and places seen on screen to inspire GCC visitors to discover more of Britain. VisitBritain’s latest research shows that among those visitors considering a trip to the UK, nine-out-of-ten surveyed across 20 markets are interested in visiting a film or TV location during their trip.

Latest forecasts from VisitBritain estimate 1.3 million visits from the GCC to the UK in 2024 with those visitors spending £3.1 billion on their trips.

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