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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Simon Calder

Cost of Brexit on UK’s tourism industry revealed – with the worst yet to come

Welcome sight: Tourists at Westminster Bridge in London - (Simon Calder)

The tourism slump to the UK triggered by Brexit is continuing. The annual VisitBritain forecast for inbound tourism shows spending is sharply down compared with 2019. This was the last year before the Covid pandemic – and also before the UK left the European Union.

The inbound tourism organisation predicts a record 43.4 million visits in 2025, with spend of £33.7 billion. That will be 19 per cent above the amount that foreign tourists spent in the last pre-Covid, pre-Brexit year, 2019 – but, allowing for inflation, around 9 per cent down.

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