The line graph shows information about how many international visitors came to the UK for a variety of reasons over a period of two decades, from 1989 to 2009.
Overall, it is clear that while the purpose of visiting for business and visiting friends or relatives declined over the given time, that of holiday saw an increase towards the end of the period. The most common reason for overseas visits to the UK was for a holiday.
At the start of the period, coming for business purposes stood at close to 6.5 million, making it the highest output in this category. Although the figure saw a sharp decrease between 1999 and 2004, it then dramatically rose to peak at almost 9.5 million over the following decades.
Travel for business started at around 5.5 million in 1989. During the initial few years, this number considerably increased, reaching its highest level of 8 million in 2007, but then it saw a negligible decline towards the end of the period. The figure for visiting friends and relatives also increased, peaking at around 7 million by 2004, before falling by 1 million in 2009.
