The tourist authority of New Year revealed that Britons make up the largest proportion of overseas visitors to New York – increasing by some 4% during 2006.

The needs of visitors are changing in a number of ways, these include but are not limited to: Demand for high standards of catering; a growing interest in life long learning and education through fun activities; recognition that brands play an increasingly important part of visitors’ decision-making process and help to differentiate visitor experiences; an ageing population which will stay younger longer, people will remain active and a greater concern for the environment & green issues

A reading list focusing on heritage tourism is available on the Tourism Trade website.

Some interesting statistics on the New Forest National Park.

The Times reports that consumer spending is likely to be 0.5% lower in the second half of the year than expected.  As tourism is an area of discretionary spend this is likely to have an impact on the sector (particularly if interest rates continue to increase).

The United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS) have published their initial results for 2006 – the full report is expected to be published in August.

There has been significant growth in tourism in the Outer Hebrides – visitor spend has increased from £39 million in 2002 to £49 in 2006.

The BBC has reported that the Shetland Islands experienced a growth in visitor numbers during 2006.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau recorded that the number of visitors Belfast was up in 2006 by 6% generating a record 6.8 million visits.

VisitBritain forecasts a 3.7% increase in inbound tourism during 2007, which translates to some 32.5 million overseas visitors spending approximately £16 billion of visitor spend.

It has been forecast that the Tour de France will generate some £115 million for London and Kent when the Tour starts in the UK in July 2007. An estimated 2 million visitors are predicted to visit London and Kent during the UK stage of the Tour. For more information please click here.

A short summary document produced for the Forestry Commission looking at the economic value of recreation in seven forest locations.

Visit Britain’s website has is home to a number of important visitor attraction survey reports, including the Visitor Attractions Survey 2005.

This report provides a wealth of information including the average adult admission price at different types of attractions through to visitor trends to different types of attractions.