Tom Wright, chief executive of VisitBritain, has predicted today that visitor numbers for 2004 will be up after a significant rise in visitors towards the end of 2003.

Compared with 2002, the last three months of 2003 saw a 6 per cent rise in visitors to the UK.

“It is particularly encouraging that there were 280,000 visitors from North America to the UK in December 2003,” said Wright. “That’s a record number for the month and 16 per cent increase on December 2002.”

“VisitBritain’s marketing campaigns to raise the profile of the UK in North America have helped increase the number of visitors.”

Overall, 2003 saw a 2 per cent increase in visitors compared with 2002, with a total of 25 million inbound visitors. VisitBritain estimates 2004 will see visits increase 3.3 per cent on 2003.

The organisation also predicts the value of inbound tourism will grow by 3.4 per cent to £12.3bn. Details: www.visitbritain.com