Even the Royal Family has done their bit to boost UK tourism

A total of 2.41 million people visited the UK in June this year, an 8% rise on the same period last year, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

But the figures also indicated that most of the rise was due to a big increase in tourists from Western Europe.

The number of holidaymakers from the US is still below last year's level.

US campaign

The war in Iraq , Sars outbreak and terror fears have left tourists nervous of travel and led many to holiday closer to home.

Americans do appear to still be a bit nervous about travelling Elliot Frisby, VisitBritain spokesman

The ONS figures showed that 440,000 North American's visited the UK in June, down 15% from the same month last year.

This was offset by a 17% increase in visitors from Western Europe, with 1.53 million travelling to the UK.

But the drop in the number of traditionally big-spending American tourists contributed to a 7% fall in overseas visitor spending to �1.02bn.

"Americans do appear to still be a bit nervous about travelling," said VisitBritain spokesman Elliot Frisby.

But he added a new advertising campaign in the US "has led to a lot of bookings".

Improved prospects?

Tom Wright, chief executive of VisitBritain, added: "The June figures are very encouraging.

"Forward bookings also look more positive and combined with the number of British people holidaying at home this year, we can conclude that the prospects for UK tourism are much improved this summer."

However, despite the promising June figures, there were signs that overseas visitor numbers remain depressed.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 5.8 million overseas visitors arrived in Britain during the April to June period, down from 6.3 million in the first three months of 2003.

Britons stay home

On the other side of the coin, UK visits abroad during April to June dipped by 2% from the first three months of the year to 15 million.

America seemed to be losing popularity with visits falling 1%, while tourists travelling to Western Europe were up 3% and other destinations rose 8%

Britons abroad, like visitors to the UK, kept a tight hold on their purse strings with overseas expenditure slipping 5% to �6.8m.

That figure, combined with earnings in the UK from foreign tourists, resulted in a deficit to the country of �4.2bn in the April to June period - down from �4.3bn in the first quarter.