The line graph illustrates the number of international visitors who visited the UK for three different reasons between 1989 and 2009. Overall, the UK underwent rises in its tourist numbers across all three brackets, albeit to varying degrees. It is also clear that holiday was a more common reason for people’s visit than business and meeting fiends and relatives.
In 1989, the UK was most popular as a holiday destination, with as many as 6.5 million overseas guests coming here for this reason. Followed by four years of stability, this figure then saw a marked increase, reaching a high of 9 million in 1994. This peak was not maintained, as the number of tourists started to decrease steadily and hit low of a about 6.5 million in 2004. However, there was a recovery and the visitors numbers reached 9 million again in 2009.
In contrast, business-related visits began at around 5 million in 1989, experienced a margin decline to just roughly 4.5 million in 1994, and the gradually reserver the next 15 years. By 2009, this bracket reached it is high at around 8 million. The number of visitors who came to meet friends or relatives showed a more modest upward trend. Starting at reaching a high of approximately 7 million in 2004. However, this increase was not sustained, and by 2009, it had dropped back at around 6 million.