A surge of international visitors, particularly from Eastern Asia, brought positive growth for hotels in 2018, data from Expedia Group has shown.

Major cities and regions across the UK saw double-digit group through the year.

Visitors from the Far East were a major contributor to this with Chinese travellers to the UK increasing by almost 160% year-on-year. Visitors from Japan increased by 30%, from Malaysia by 45%, Korea 20% and Thailand 30%.

Traditionally strong markets such as Germany, Canada, Australia and France remained buoyant while Italy, Ireland and Spain saw double-digit year-on-year increases in the number of tourists heading to the UK.

There was also notable growth in the number of visitors from South America, particularly Brazil and Argentina.

The result was 15% increase in visitor numbers to London, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff year-on-year.

Both Edinburgh and Glasgow saw a 10% uptick, with Edinburgh holding its spot as the second most popular destination for tourists visiting the UK after London.

Meanwhile Essex, East Anglia, the West Midlands, North Wales, the Lake District and Cumbria saw the biggest regional increases in tourist numbers.

Irene Roberts, director of market management for Expedia Group, said, “The significant rise 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.

'Our proposition of providing hotel partners with a global reach through continued investment in technology and marketing is helping capture those visitors and drive conversions.”

(source: Expedia, image: pixabay)