Band 5+: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The graph below shows the number of overseas visitors who came to the UK for different purposes between 1989 and 2009. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. You should write at least 150 words.

The line graph provided campares three categories of people who travelled abroad to the United Kingdom from 1989 to 2009.

Overall, the number of international tiurists increased in all categories. While amount of visitors who wanted to meet a friend or had a business purpose increased dramatically, the figure of holiday makers had a fluctuation over this period.

In the 1989, over 3 million people went to the UK to see their families or relatives. This number had grown to 7 million significantly by 2009, and then fell slightly to 6 million in the last month of that year. The figure of tourists with a business aim experienced a similar pattern, despite that it fluctuated between 1989 and about 2003. It dropped from 5 million to 4 million in 2000, but after that year increased sharply to approximately 6.5 million, and leveled off for couple of years. Then, increased gradually to 8 million in 2009, and eventually stablized at 7 million. Furthermore, the figure of people who went to this country for recreation was steady over one year in 2000, at almost 6.5 million. After that, it had a dramatic growth in around 1995, by about 2.5 million, but it not remained at this amount very much, and it returned back to last number in 1989. Finally, it reached 9 million again in 2009.