Title W14 - Final.docx ✅

for travel, while holidays remained the most significant draw, their relative share declined, giving way to rises in business travel and visits to friends and relatives. Looking first at visitor spending, in 1980, it stood at approximately £8 billion, and by 2010, this figure had climbed to about £10.6 billion, representing a total increase of over £2 billion. However, this upward trend was not entirely linear. The period was punctuated by fluctuations, most notably a spike in 1996, when spending surged to a peak of £12 billion. This peak was not sustained/ maintained, nevertheless, with a subsequent decline to about £9.7 billion in 2002. Although visitor spending bounced back / recovered thereafter, this recovery was not sufficient to bring the number back to the 1996 peak.