The line graph gives information about how many visitors came to the UK for different reasons—holiday, business, and visiting friends or relatives—at five-year intervals between 1989 and 2009.
Overall, although there were some fluctuations, all the figures saw an upward trend, with that of holidays maintaining its leading position throughout the period and the remaining purposes having a similar pattern.
Starting with the most popular reason, in 1989, the number of international visitors who came to the UK to spend their holidays was over 6 million, which then further increased to around 7 million in 1994. From that point on, this number scyrocketed, reaching a high of almost 10 million in 1999, the highest level recorded during the whole period. By the end of the period, the figure for holiday visits had increased to around 9 million, despite the fall in 2004 to under 8 million visitors.
The other purposes, which were business and friends as well as family visits, had a similar trajectory. The former started at over 6 million and dropped to 4 million in 1992. This was followed by a recovery and further increase till 2007, reaching 8 million before falling to around 7 million by the end of the period. The latter, on the other hand, saw more consistent growth, starting at under 4 million and gradually rising to around 7 million in 2004 and also falling by 2009 to just over 6 million.