Tourism

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists visited England in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. (89064)

The following tables set out the number of visits to England from (i) overseas and (ii) the UK where this included an overnight stay.

*Inbound visits to England by year*
million
	Visits (all)
1997	19.6
1998	19.9
1999	21.5
2000	21.5
2001	19.3
2002	20.5
2003	21.2
2004	23.6
2005	25.3
Source: International Passenger Survey (ONS)

*Domestic overnight trips in England by year*
million
	Visits (all)
1997	125.6
1998	115.4
1999	137.7
2000	140.4
2001	131.9
2002	134.9
2003	121.3
2004	101.4
2005	111.2
Source: UK Tourism Survey (National Tourist Boards). The methodology for the UKTS changed in 2005 meaning that comparisons with previous years should be treated with caution. This change occurred due to concerns with the quality of 2004 data, which is thought to be an under-representation of the true position.

In addition, a substantial number of day visits are made to, or within, England. The last leisure day visits survey in 2002-03 recorded a total of over 900 million tourism day visits to destinations in England.

Volume 450: debated on Tuesday 10 October 2006