Provisional figures from the International Passenger Survey appear to indicate that Britain's tourism industry reached a turning point during the key summer months.

VisitBritain commented that the trend seen in the summer with increasing numbers of overseas residents choosing to visit the UK is likely to continue to the end of the year, mostly due to a favourable exchange rate with the euro.

The figures show that in the first nine months of 2009, overseas residents made nearly 23 million visits to the UK and spent £12.5bn. While the number of visits is 8 per cent down compared to 2008, visitor spend is unchanged due to strong growth in how much visitors are spending.

During the vital summer months of July to September, 3 percent more international visitors holidayed in Britain than over the same period in 2008, equivalent to 100,000 additional holidaymakers. Figures for the first nine months of 2009 show that Britain welcomed more than 9 million holiday visitors, 262,000 more than in 2008.

The North American market appears to be recovering, with a 6 percent growth in total visits during the three months to September, the first quarter to post a rise since early 2008. Much of this is attributed to the pound being - on average - 13 per cent cheaper against the US$ during the period than the same interval last year.

During the first nine months of 2009, the EU15 market has seen a fall in visitor numbers of only 4 percent, with a favourable exchange rate again helping to boost holiday visits. After a number of years of sustained growth 2009 has seen a drop in visits from the twelve EU Accession countries of 23 per cent.