Tourists spend record amount in the UK in November

London - The Brexit has done little to scare away tourists, rather the weak pound has helped led to a surge in tourism spend, which broke records last month.

New data from Global Blue, retail tourism experts, shows a record increase of 41 percent year on year in November. This increase, which is on pare with October, is the highest monthly spend increase recorded over the last three years, since December 2013, marking a solid start for the UK retail sector in 2017.

"The Christmas period is an incredibly important time for UK retailers. We expect to see an influx of tourists both pre and post-Christmas, as international shoppers buy unique British luxury goods to take home as presents," commented Gordon Clark, Managing Director Global Blue UK & Ireland in a statement. "December 2015 saw a worrying 7 percent decrease, however this year is on track to deliver incredible results, given the current trading environment working in international visitors’ favour."

The stellar performance witnessed last month is largely attributed to "consistent spend" from Asian nations, who took advantage of the decline of the pound. Chinese visitors in particular continue to flock to the UK and dominated the total monthly share of UK international shopping spend, accounting for 25 percent. This should come as no surprise however, as Chinese tourist spend was up 63 percent in November compared to the same period last year.

"Overall, we expect total UK international tax free spend for 2016 to finish on double digit growth, due to the visitor and spend surge in the second half of the year," added Clark. "This will be welcome news to retailers who have braved the tough trading environment amongst the political and economic uncertainty of 2016."

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