UAE tourists up UK spending to $473m

The number of UAE travellers visiting the UK has grown 95 percent in nine years, according to a tourism body.

British tourist authority VisitBritain also said people from the emirates are splashing out more when holidaying in the UK, making them the second biggest spenders in the Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa market.

Visitor spend for UAE travellers staying in the UK climbed 24 percent last year from 2007, with 232,000 people splashing out GBP289m ($473.7m) during that period.

The previous year, 187,000 people from the UAE visited Britain and spent $309.8m.

“UAE travellers to the UK have more to see and do than ever before, and now it’s even more affordable, so we are not at all surprised to see UAE visitor numbers and related spend continuing to climb,” said Carol Maddison, VisitBritain’s marketing manager for the UAE.

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