Visitors from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, have set a new record for tourism in Britain with an 18 percent increase in visits and 9 percent in spending in 2015, said the British Embassy on Tuesday.
Referring to the International Passenger Survey (IPS) data provided by the office for National Statistics, a media department official at the embassy here said the tourism figures for GCC have broken previous records as 723,773 people visited Britain and spent £1.59 billion in 2015.
According to the survey, Saudi Arabia contributed to the biggest percentage increase in spending (52 percent) in 2015 as against 2014, making the Kingdom the highest spending market in the GCC with £556 million.
She said GCC is one of the fastest growing markets in terms of visitors’ numbers and spending, and Britain is firmly placed among the top three European destinations for tourism.
Out of the total visits to Britain from the GCC, the UAE recorded the highest volume with 347,000 visits in 2015, (recording rise of 34 percent as against 2014.)
Saudi Arabia was number two with 147,000 visitors in 2015, recording 2 percent increase, while Kuwait third with 104,000 visitors, followed by Qatar with 76,000 visitors.
According to the IPS, VisitBritain, a campaign boosting Britain’s image overseas has prioritized the GCC with multiyear campaigns, initiatives and activities to drive Britain’s visitor attraction program under the Dunes to Britain series.
In 2015, VisitBritain launched the “Great Britain Great Moments campaign” in the GCC countries.
The digital marketing campaign kicked off in July 2015 with a nine-month digital and social media program that inspired people through snapshots and videos of special moments experienced by social media celebrities from the region.
The aim behind the campaign was to encourage visitors to explore more of regional Britain and find their own amazing moments.
The second phase of the campaign was launched in February 2016 and featured a partnership with Qatar Airways to drive conversion and provide promotional offers for travelers to fly into some of the Britain’s most exciting destinations including Manchester, Edinburgh, London and Birmingham.
