A record number of Americans visited the UK in 2012, but not for the Olympics
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U.S. visits to Britain dropped by more than 5 percent in November, according to provisional figures issued by VisitBritain. But U.S. visits are still up 3 percent for the year and should exceed 2.9 million for the first time since 2008.
Quarterly data confirmed that U.S. visits to Britain declined from the peak third quarter by 4.7 percent. The number of Americans visiting for the Olympics did not make up for the loss of “traditional” U.S. visitors who stayed away because they were worried about costs and crowding in London.