The number of visits to the UK hit an all-time high of 32.8 million last year, surpassing totals pre-dating the world financial crisis which took hold in 2008.

Numbers of foreign visits were 5.6 per cent higher in 2013 than in 2012, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to a record high not seen since records began in 1961.

Trips made by UK citizens out of the country also increased year-on-year, but at 58.5 million they were significantly below the 69.5 million recorded in 2006.

Crucially, spending by visitors to the UK also climbed dramatically last year, rising 12.7 per cent compared with 2012 to hit the £21 billion mark. More than half of that figure was spent by visitors to London.

Meanwhile UK residents spending abroad climbed 7.6 per cent to £34.9 billion.