VisitBritain today said that international visitor figures for January and February 2004 represent some of the best ever. Over 3.5 million international visitors came to the UK in the first two months of the year, a rise of 10 per cent on the same period in 2003, according to provisional data from the International Passenger Survey.

The USA is the largest and most important market for British Tourism and registered a 12 per cent increase in this time period equating 433,000 visits in 2004 compared with 386,000 visits last year.

Rob Franklin, Executive VP VisitBritain, The Americas said:

\"This is excellent news for the industry and evidence that pent-up demand for Britain is now being released. Barring further international incidents, industry prospects continue to improve.

\"With so many special deals to the UK on the market, the consumer is being offered wonderful choices and a wide range of travel options. Even in these uncertain times, we know consumers are motivated by price.

\"These early figures would also seem to indicate that the recent exchange rate fluctuations have not impacted significantly on travel to Britain. If visitors continue to flock to Britain at this rate, VisitBritain\'s worldwide forecasts of a 3.3% increase in visits and a 3.4% rise in spending this year look achievable.\"

A number of campaigns and initiatives have been launched by VisitBritain and industry partners to boost inbound tourism. VisitBritain\'s successful \'Britain Just Go!\' campaign in the first quarter of 2004, encouraged off-season trips to cities in Britain from $278 including flights and 3 nights\' accommodation. Excellent results from this campaign have been a contributory factor to the overall increase in visitors and further highlight the price sensitive nature of the US market.