The number of UK tourists visiting the states dropped for the past four years

UK visitor numbers to the USA are down 16% from 2008 to 2011, with delegates at the Visit USA Association briefing on Tuesday hearing that more needs to be done to stimulate tourism to the States. Julie Heizer, acting director of the Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI), said that there was a 28% drop in UK visitor spending in the US from 2008 compared with 2011, with $12bn spent last year, although it was up from $11.3bn in 2010.

"We need to do more," said Heizer, adding that the travel trade needs to show consumers that just because they have visited the USA once before, that doesn’t mean they have seen all it has to offer.