Inbound long-haul airline passengers are giving the UK its biggest financial boost, a new report for Gatwick reveals.
As many as 5.5 million foreign visitors arrived in the UK via the airport last year spending 40.3 million nights in the country, contributing £4.7 billion to GDP and supporting 93,000 jobs
A further £1.2 billion was added to the UK Exchequer – enough to cover the salaries of 46,000 nurses or 36,000 teachers – through taxes on transactions, wages and profits generated by businesses serving these overseas visitors, according to the study.
The report by Oxford Economics, commissioned by the Gatwick Growth Board, also shows that the UK economy receives a £200 million GDP, 4000 job boost every time 100,000 more passengers from Asia arrive at Gatwick.
This highlights the importance of the airport’s recent new routes to Hong Kong, Chongqing, Tianjin and Taipei, with other new routes to Asia expected soon.
Passengers visiting from Asia are shown to spend an average £1,185 per visit – compared to the £705 overall average – with those arriving from US (£1,021), Australia (£1,047) and the rest of Americas (£1,117) also spending considerably more.
The report’s special analysis shows that just over
More than half (56%) of foreign visitors’ overnight stays were in London, a quarter (24%) were across the south-east region, with the remainder spread around the rest of the UK.
This gave a boost in spending through air fares, taxis, rail tickets, hotel stays, restaurant meals, shopping and visits to leisure and cultural attractions.
Overseas visitors are only part of Gatwick’s visitor economy as 1.6 million visitors arrived from other parts of UK last year – spending 5.2 million nights – and contributed £588 million to GDP and 12,700 jobs. These visitors were principally from Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Other findings show that:
• More than four fifths of visitors were from Europe – with Spain, Italy and France the top three origin countries – followed by US
• Around a fifth of visitors from Germany, Denmark, Holland and Ireland came on business
• Visitors from Africa (15 nights), Australia (13), Asia (13) and Canada (12) stayed the longest (on average)
Gatwick Growth Board co-chair Baroness Tessa Jowell said: “This report shows just how valuable long-haul visitors arriving through Gatwick are to the UK.
“The airport already offers over 60 long haul routes but securing more to North and South America, and to Asia, will bring even more high value visitors into the UK economy; growing connections to these markets should be an integral part of Gatwick’s future strategy.”
Board co-chair Steve Norris said: “As a vital piece of UK infrastructure, Gatwick provides a significant contribution to local, regional and national economies and this report shows that this still has room to grow – both in terms of the number of inbound passengers and the value of each visit.
“As Gatwick continues to grow, it is our job to ensure the benefits it brings to the economy are felt, not just nationally, but also by the airport’s regional and local neighbours and these roundtables have provided plenty of positive ideas as to how.”
VisitBritain chairman Steve Ridgway, former boss of Virgin Atlantic, added: “Gatwick is an important gateway to the UK and plays a vital role in the country’s thriving visitor economy.
“Inbound tourism will continue to be a vital component of the UK economy after we’ve left the European Union and VisitBritain welcomes the Gatwick Growth Board’s efforts to secure and grow the airport’s future contribution.“