VisitBritain has announced that, all things being equal, the number of foreign visitors to the UK is set to soar. One of the growth markets is so called grey tourism. In its research, VisitBritain found that people over the age of 55 often had a more positive perception of the UK than younger generations. The study found that, if money was left out of the equation, older people would place Britain in third place as the country they would most like to visit.

Over the next four years, VisitBritain predicts that the largest number of people visiting the UK from abroad will come from the traditionally strong markets of Spain, Germany, Ireland, France and the United States. However, the number of visitors entering from the Bric countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – is set to increase rapidly.

According to VisitBritain, the next four years will see an increase of 89 per cent in visitors coming from China. Russian visitors are set to increase by 24 per cent; those coming from Brazil will increase by 18 percent and travellers from India will increase by 29 per cent.

VisitBritain pointed out that its figures were based on continuing promotional campaigns around the world, no new regulations being imposed on visa requirements, no new limits on the capacity of UK airports and no freak external events.

Sandie Dawe, the organisation’s chief executive, said VisitBritain’s extensive research showed that the future for the UK’s tourism industry looked positive. She added that a lot of hard work had meant that Britain had performed better than many of its European neighbours this year.