Insight: shoppers from overseas underpin UK luxury retail market
New figures have revealed that the UK posted 26% year-on-year growth in tax free sales to overseas tourists in the first seven months of 2017.
The data from Premier Tax Free, the tax free shopping company, show that the increase is the highest of the top five luxury retail destination markets in Europe, with the UK outperforming Italy, Spain, France and Germany.
The figures correlate with data released from London’s Heathrow Airport which saw the number of tourists travelling to the UK reaching a high this year in July at 7.5 million, an 11% increase on June.
Muriel Zingraff-Shariff, UK country manager at Premier Tax Free, said: “The UK’s positive tax free sales figures should be welcomed by retailers, especially on the anniversary of the EU Referendum. Where other sectors have seen slumps, it seems Brexit has not discouraged shoppers for coming to the UK for their luxury spending. London remains a considerable magnet for global shoppers, and arrival figures from Heathrow confirm this.”
