Manchester overtakes Edinburgh as second most popular inbound UK destination

Manchester overtakes Edinburgh as second most popular inbound UK destination

Expedia Group analysis finds growth driven by visitors from Asia

Manchester overtook Edinburgh as the second most popular destination after London for visitors to the UK in the first half of the year.

Overall growth was driven by visitors from Asia with demand from Chinese travellers to the UK rising by 185% year-on-year, new analysis by Expedia Group revealed.

A number of major cities and regions across the UK saw “significant” double-digit growth across the period with an influx in arrivals from fast-growing international markets such as China, Brazil and India.

There was increased in demand from visitors from Spain (up 30%), Brazil (30%), Japan (25%) and the US (20%).

While London continued to attract the strongest tourist demand, hoteliers in a number of cities across the UK also saw increased visitor numbers.

International and domestic demand for Manchester, Sheffield and Cambridge grew by around 15%, while Leeds and Cardiff grew by 10%.

Manchester overtook the Scottish capital as the second most popular destination by market share for inbound travellers.

Expedia Group London-based market management director Helen Maher said: “It’s exciting to see the significant growth in visitors from a number of international markets, in particularly the ongoing appeal of the UK among Chinese travellers.

“The continued increase in demand from valuable Far East visitors is great news for hoteliers – lengthier booking windows and increased on-property spend enable them to focus their time on maximising bookings during shoulder periods.

“The strong growth of cities outside of London is also hugely encouraging, demonstrating our proposition of providing hotel partners with a global reach is helping capture visitors and drive conversions.”