London 2012 success 'will encourage visits to UK'

London 2012 was seen overseas as a success for Britain and will encourage more people to visit the UK, according to a survey.

2012 Games: seen as a success for Britain by foreign communications experts
2012 Games: seen as a success for Britain by foreign communications experts

Research from ECCO International showed 73% of 108 communications experts surveyed from 24 countries, including Germany, the US and China, thought the event changed the image of the British for the better.

Nearly all respondents (99%) expected that the Olympics would encourage more people from their country to visit the UK, while 97% believed it had resulted in more positive perceptions of British products and services in their countries.

The survey comes at the same time as data on the number of visitors from overseas to the UK showed a 6% year-on-year drop in July, the month before the Olympics. 

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), there were 3.2 million visits to the UK in July, with earnings of £2bn from these visits.

UK residents took an estimated 5.7 million visits abroad during the same period, which remained in line with figures from July 2011.

The ONS stated however, that despite the falls in July, the overall visits and earnings in 2012 to date were both 1% higher than in 2011.

The ONS acknowledged that most visits to the UK specifically for the Olympics would have been completed during August, as the Games did not start until 27 July, and would therefore not be reflected in these figures.

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