A record 16.4 million visitors from abroad went to the UK between just January and June of this year.
This was an increase of 8% over the same time last year, according to the Office of National Statistics.
People resident in the EU numbered 11.38 million with a further 1.1 million arriving from other European countries not in the EU. North America provided 1.57 million visitors while 2.28 million were from the rest of the world.
The UK prospered by their visits to the tune of a record £1.97 billion just in the month of June.
British residents, however, showed an even greater love of foreign travel.
During the period UK residents took 27.14 million trips abroad, up by 5% from the same period in 2013.
More Brits went to North America, up by 6%, while there was a 4% increase to countries in Europe.
In 2013 a total of 31.2 million visits were made to the UK, placing it as the world’s eighth most visited nation. The number one destination was France which enjoyed 84.7 million visits.
