Big-spending Americans helped boost UK tourism. A rise in the number of visits by North Americans to the UK led to an increase in foreign visitor spending, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

Overseas residents spent £2.02 billion during their trips to the UK in August, compared with £1.96 billion of last year.

The August figure took spending by foreigners in the UK for the first eight months of 2011 to £11.65 billion – a four per cent increase on the January-August 2010 spending.

Although the number of visits by North Americans rose from 374,000 in August 2010 to 380,000 in August 2011, total visits by tourists dipped from 3.19 million in August 2010 to 3.13 million in August 2011.

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