§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Paymaster General if he will state the latest estimate of the number of holidaymakers who did not come to the United Kingdom from the United States of America during 1986; and how this compares to the corresponding period of 1985.
§ Mr. TrippierFigures are not available for the number of people in the United States who planned to visit the United Kingdom on holiday either during 1985 or 1986, but who did not do so. Figures are available for the number of visitors who came to the United Kingdom from North America as a whole. During the first eight months of 1986 there were 1,991,000 visitors from this area, compared with 2,754,000 for the same period last year. 157W This represents a fall of 27 per cent. Both the British Tourist Authority and British Airways report that bookings are now returning to forecast levels.