Chinese tourists splash out £29m in UK shops during Golden Week
London has been experiencing a surge in spending by Chinese tourists, with high-end stores and boutiques in the West End being the main beneficiaries. However, the hospitality industry has also seen a boost, with pubs, restaurants and bars reporting a 23% increase in card spending from Chinese visitors. This trend is set to continue, as flight bookings from China to the UK for the period of September to November 2017 were up by 10% compared to the previous year. This is great news for the UK, and indicates a positive trend of increasing Chinese visitors. Since the EU referendum, foreign tourists have been flocking to the UK to take advantage of the fall in the value of the pound against other currencies, and overseas visitors have been record-breaking in number. Last July, there were four million trips to Britain, a 6% increase from July 2016. James Frost, WorldPay’s UK Chief Marketing Officer, notes that Chinese tourists see Britain as a prime shopping destination, cementing its global status.
Worldpay looked at all the transactions made using non-UK credit cards in June 2017. They found that people from the Middle East spent more money during the week of Eid, which was between 24 to 30 June, compared to last year. The increase in spending was 25% higher than the same time last year. This information was released after a report that was published yesterday showing that total sales in the UK fell by 0.8% in September. This is because prices for things were increasing, which means people had less money to spend.