The first half of 2013 saw record levels in spend and the strongest visitor numbers into the UK since 2008, as inbound tourism continues to grow.

According to new figures from the International Passenger Survey, Britain attracted 15.2 million visitors in the first half of 2013, a 4 per cent increase on the previous year’s figures, while people spent a record £8.7bn during the period.

June became a record-breaking month with £1.84bn being spent by overseas visitors, who totalled 2.89m for the month alone, with 1.22m of those visitors coming to the UK on holiday.

“In June the UK welcomed more than a visitor every single second (67 overseas visitors a minute),” said Keith Beecham, Overseas Director at VisitBritain.

“If this trend continues it would see us welcome one overseas visitor every second of every day of every week of every month of the year.”

The figures also convey more interest from developing markets, with over 500,000 visiting from the ‘Rest of World’ in June, while loyal, high-volume interest continued from Europe as visits from the EU15 markets rose by 14 per cent compared to last June.