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Overseas Visitor Profile


The International Passenger Survey (IPS) involves a face-to-face interview with a random sample of foreign nationals. Over a quarter of million face-to-face interviews are carried out each year with passengers entering and leaving the UK through the main airports, seaports and the Channel Tunnel.

The following tables summarise the key characteristics of UK residents' trips to the South East.


Averages for trips to the South East 2004 - 2009

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Length of trip (nights) 7.9 7.9 8.3 7.3 7.1 TBC
Expenditure per 24 hours £46.90 £45.00 £46.70 £49.56 £55.50 TBC
Expenditure per trip £371.70 £354.70 £388.90 £360.8 £394.05 TBC

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain

          

Top 10 overseas markets for the South East 2004 - 2009, ranked by volume of trips

Trips (000) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Total South East 3,950 4,144 4,317 4,468 4,559 4,266
France 534 477 496 514 589 565
Germany 435 527 528 535 506 533
USA 535 497 541 504 432 399
Spain 243 276 260 296 242 315
Ireland 205 240 224 251 309 270
Netherlands 221 231 253 255 307 265
Australia 157 173 191 176 171 174
Belguim 133 166 116 131 161 131
Poland - - - 150 204 129
Canada 130 127 145 139 145 120

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain 

         

Top 10 overseas markets for the South East 2004 - 2009, ranked by percentage of trips

% 2004 % 2005 % 2006 % 2007 % 2008 % 2009
France 14 12 11 11 13 13
Germany 11 13 12 12 11 12
USA 14 12 12 11 9 9
Spain 6 7 6 7 5 7
Ireland 5 6 5 6 7 6
Netherlands 6 6 6 6 7 6
Australia 4 4 4 4 4 4
Belgium 3 4 3 3 4 3
Poland - - - 3 4 3
Canada 3 3 3 3 3 3

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain      

                  

Top 10 overseas markets to the South East 2004 - 2009, ranked by trip expenditure

Spend (Mn) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Total South East 1,467 1,470 1,679 1,578 1,799 1,819
USA 216 207 276 200 189 233
France 115 103 152 118 151 203
Germany 93 126 151 164 133 176
Spain 73 83 88 87 107 109
Australia 59 72 78 66 87 100
Ireland 51 64 55 63 80 77
Netherlands 42 52 55 65 136 72
Italy 73 53 52 78 80 45
Switzerland 46 33 37 46 31 44
Canada 64 35 41 47 39 43

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain

            

Top 10 overseas markets for the South East 2004 - 2009, ranked by percentage of spend

% 2004 % 2005 % 2006 % 2007 % 2008 % 2009
USA 15 14 16 13 10 13
France 8 7 9 7 8 11
Germany 6 9 9 10 7 10
Spain 5 6 5 5 6 6
Australia 4 5 5 4 1 5
Ireland 4 4 3 4 4 4
Netherlands 3 4 3 4 8 4
Italy 5 4 3 5 4 2
Switzerland 3 2 2 3 2 2
Canada 4 2 2 3 2 2

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain        

            

Purpose of Visit to the South East by overseas visitors 2004 - 2009

% 2004 % 2005 % 2006 % 2007 % 2008 % 2009
Holiday 27 28 24 27 28 33
VFR 36 35 37 38 36 37
Business 25 26 26 25 27 20
Study 4 4 4 3 3 3
Other 8 7 9 7 6 7

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain

                         

Transport used by Overseas Visitors to Reach the South East 2004 - 2009

% 2004 % 2005 % 2006 % 2007 % 2008 % 2009
Air 68 69 72 71 66 64
Sea 21 21 18 19 23 26
Tunnel 10 10 10 10 11 10

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), VisitBritain 

               

For further statistics on overseas visitors trips to the UK visit the IPS pages on the VisitBritain website by clicking here.