A new analysis of UK inbound tourism reveals useful figures on medical tourism, and spa/wellness tourism. The UK is the sixth most visited destination by international tourists. Outbound travel from countries in developing parts of the world is growing rapidly, but international travel is primarily intra-regional rather than inter-regional, so Western European markets continue to offer growth potential for Britain's inbound visitor economy.

VisitBritain's latest report 'Overseas visitors to Britain, understanding trends, attitudes and characteristics' is a detailed analysis of inbound UK tourism. The number of tourists (holiday, business and anything else) visiting the UK from the fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China is set to leap. Visitors from China are predicted to rise by 89 per cent, bringing just under an extra 100,000 travellers to these shores, by 2014, the fastest increase in tourism to the UK from any country. While the bulk of the increase in tourism to Britain over the next four years will continue to come from the UK’s traditional European and North American markets, the speed with which tourism from these four countries is increasing is significant. In four years time, there will be 35,000 more from Brazil, 100,000 more from India, and 50,000 more from Russia. Although the acceleration among emerging nations is impressive, the largest numbers of new visitors will continue to come from France, Ireland, the USA, Germany and Spain – the UK’s traditional top five markets for visitors - bringing 3.3 million more visitors to Britain by 2014.

Tourists increasingly come to Britain seeking spas, health and beauty centres, separate from the numbers coming as medical tourists. Wellness has become more than a trend, it has become a need. Health is now about empowerment of self-treatment and exploring new medical techniques. Spa visits, medical tourism, anti-stress therapy, anti-obesity retreats and a long list of other therapies are one of the contributing reasons for people to visit Britain.

Technology is shaping how customers decide where to go. They use it to choose a destination, as well as book travel and accommodation. Most importantly, they now tell the world about their experience, with user generated content; moving from just posting comments on websites and social media, to uploading videos.

The report says that according to the independent International Passenger Travel Survey (IPS), in 2009, 50,000 medical tourists came to the UK. The IPS is a survey of a random sample of passengers entering and leaving the UK; over a quarter of million face-to-face interviews are carried out each year with passengers entering and leaving the UK through the main airports, seaports and the Channel Tunnel. Those who travel for medical treatment spend on average more than double the average tourist spend. Visitors from the Middle East account for more than 50% of spending by those who come for medical treatment.

Visitors are categorized as business, holiday or other. While few business visitors seek out spa and wellness treatment, other visitors do. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the IPS found that just 2% of all visitors made use of a spa, wellness or beauty centre; so between 500,000 and 600,00 visitors a year. It is not possible to say if spa and wellness was the whole or partial reason for the visit, or just ancillary to a holiday or visiting friends/relatives.

The report also reveals a statistic that medical tourism has long sought. In the USA, the proportion of adults holding a passport is now 33% (94.5 million), according to Donald N Martin and Company. The number of US visitors to the UK has declined substantially in the last two years.

Other official ONS statistics show an increase in 2010 in both outbound and inbound travel. This is good news after figures showed that visits abroad by UK residents fell in 2009 by the fastest rate since the 1970s; 58.4 million, compared to 69 million in 2008, although the last quarter of 2008 also saw a fall.