Birmingham welcomes 1m international visitors for the first time

BIRMINGHAM’S attractiveness to international visitors continues to grow, with official data showing the city had more than one million international visits for the first time last year.

It was the fourth most visited place in the UK by global guests – behind London, Edinburgh and Manchester – having seen a 17% increase in visitors from overseas and a 29% increase in their spending.

Data from the Office for National Statistics for 2015 shows 1.11m international guests stayed in Birmingham for 6.34m nights, spending £386m.

However, although the number of visitors was comparable with Manchester, which was just 4% higher at 1.15m people, the total spend was 19% higher at £458m.

Birmingham’s average spend per head, of £349, is the second-lowest in the top 10 cities, ahead of only Glasgow.

Emma Gray, director of maketing and communications for Marketing Birmingham, said: “As global competition to attract tourists remains fierce, we have been actively promoting Birmingham more widely than ever before, targeting markets with large numbers of potential visitors, from Germany, China and India.  

“We have also helped showcase some major cultural celebrations including the 25th anniversary of Birmingham Royal Ballet and 50 years of the contemporary art gallery Ikon.

“Our offer was further boosted in 2015, with a focus on enhancing Birmingham’s business tourism sector. Events play a vital role in the city’s visitor economy, which hit an all-time high of £6.2bn in 2015.”

About 56% of the visitors to Birmingham were visiting for business reasons, with 16% coming on holiday and 6% visiting friends or relatives.