Palenque

Everyone would guess London followed by Edinburgh as the two top most touristed British cities - but Manchester - Birmingham - Glasgow?

Top 20 Most Popular UK Cities for International Visitors
Office of National Statistics names top visited cities in 2006

The Office of National Statistics, which keeps track of such things, has named the most UK cities most visited by international visitors in 2006.

Most Popular UK Cities for International Visitors
1.London
2.Edinburgh
3.Manchester
4.Birmingham
5.Glasgow
6.Liverpool
7.Oxford
8.Bristol
9.Cardiff
10.Cambridge
11.Newcastle-upon-Tyne
12.Leeds
13.Brighton
14.York
15.Inverness
16.Bath
17.Nottingham
18.Reading

So Oxford tops Cambridge at least in attracting tourists

bellini

Surprised Stratford upon Avon doesn't make the list as it sometimes feels like every tourist in the world has hit the streets

Palenque

19.Aberdeen
20.Chester

bellini - yes at least more than Nottingham!

Palenque

and no Canterbury - everytime i've been there - dozens a nd dozens - it was crawling with French school groups and American tourists

hetismij

There is a big difference between tourists and international visitors.
Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Reading and of course London all attract international business travellers in large numbers.

Quite how the ONS knows the numbers is beyond me - as far as I know there is no requirement for foreign visitors to register with the authorities as there is in many countries, so where they gather their data from is any ones guess.

julia_t

I am surprised to see Bristol at 8 and Bath at 16, but would think that Bath attracts the tourists on vacation, whereas Bristol would have more international visitors who are in the city as business travellers.

Paragkash

I think lake district is one of the most visited palce after London, Bath, Oxford; because of its proximity to London.
I would definitely love to see Winderemere ( though it's not a city) in the list.

flanneruk

It's those ladies at airports (and at ports and the Tunnel) who ask people leaving questions about where they've been. (it's the job Emma Thomson does in that Dustin Hoffman film)

By "been" they specify they mean where you've stayed. And they ask you how much you spent

So the table tell us either which cities had most overnight stays, or how much they spent (which tend to rank in pretty much the same order).

Naturally, this understates visitors to daytrip centres like Oxford, Stratford and Canterbury. It's skewed to business travellers (because they spend more on hotels). And PalQ's data's out of date.

IN 2008, the ranking was (www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ttdsreg0709.pdf):

London
Edinburgh
Manchester
Birmingham
Glasgow
Liverpool
Bristol
Oxford
Cambridge
Cardiff

hetismij

No one ever asks me where I have been or how much I spent when I leave the UK in my Dutch car. Maybe they assume I was camping and spent about three quid, as the Dutch have a reputation for being tightwads .

flanneruk

Well, they interviewed enough people normally living in Holland to reveal you rank between the Spanish and the Italians in number of visits. With about 2 million cloggies coming here, they obviously weren't short of other interviewees(http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloa...rends_2007.pdf)

You all spent about the same as the Italians, though that works out about 5-10% less per visitor

wellididntknowthat

>- but Manchester - Birmingham - Glasgow?<

For someone who claims to know the UK as well as our paint drinker in chief does I'm constantly surprised by what surprises him.

PatrickLondon

>>I'm constantly surprised by what surprises him.<<

But we like to keep our allure of mystery and unpredictability, don't we?

ThinGorjus

I am SHOCKED that Merthr Tydfil is not on that list!!

Thin

ssachida

a good number of those visitors are probably for football and rugby matches. hence the ranking of say newcastle higher than bath.

flanneruk

The reason the top cities (apart from Edinburgh) are in exactly the same order as their ranking in population in the 1960s is that visitors from overseas split into three pretty much identically sized groups:
- conventional hotel-staying tourists
- people visiting friends and relatives
- business visitors

Cousins tend to be in the city Bruce left in the 50s to go and whinge in Australia, or that Mohammed moved to from Pakistan just as the rag trade was moving to Pakistan.

So the data has nothing at all to do with the numbers milling round the streets gawping at the sites. Two-thirds of visitors are listening to family stories or snoozing through their colleague's Powerpoint presentation.

Palenque

For someone who claims to know the UK as well as our paint drinker in chief does I'm constantly surprised by what surprises him>

Talk about putting words in one's mouth - i have never claimed i know the UK well - though from having done business there for years and traveling annually i know more than the typical America - but when did i ever say i knew the UK well?

Well?

alanRow

I hear B&Q have a new white gloss

wellididntknowthat

> but when did i ever say i knew the UK well?

Well?<

Is this you starting your Dolores Umbridge routine again?

Cathinjoetown

OMG, READING??? I worked there for four years, the other year in Purgatory in Basingstoke!

What list is this?

Palenque

See i do not even know who the H Dolores Umbridge is - assume she was from Uxbridge and you made a typo? Nor do i care - even care what the H you think or say

cheers, mate, or is it love?