French food-lovers crave British cuisine
July 26, 2014 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
More than two fifths of products bought by tourists coming to Britain are
either items of clothing or shoes. Tourists from Kuwait are the most likely
to spend on clothing or shoes, followed by Nigerian visitors and Saudi
Arabians, the VisitBritain report shows.
The tourism agency claims visitors from the Middle East are often twice as
likely as a typical visitor to buy products such as bags, cosmetics and
toys. A visitor from Kuwait spends on average £4,000 during their stay and
Qataris part with £3,000.
Surprisingly, despite the apparent popularity of destinations such as Harrods
and designer outlet Bicester Village among Chinese tourists, shoppers from
the world’s second largest economy feature low down when foreign visitors’
shopping habits are compared.
A spokesman for VisitBritain suggested UK clothing sizes could be problematic
for Chinese shoppers, although items such as luxury watches and handbags are
popular with tourists from the Far East.
According to the latest data available, international visitors spent £4.5
billion in Britain’s shops in 2012 – a quarter of total expenditure by
foreign tourists, with other outlays including accommodation and
entertainment.
Despite its previous poor reputation, British cuisine has been making headway
with our European neighbours over the past couple of years. Marks
Spencer re-entered the French market in 2011, selling food as well as
women’s wear and lingerie. Costa Coffee, owned by the FTSE 100 leisure giant
Whitbread, has also been boldly opening branches in France, despite its
world renown cafe culture.
