International visitors increased by 4% but there were fewer Americans

The number of visitors from the US and Canada in the first six months of this year fell by 12% on last year's figure. The UK-wide figure fell by 5%.

There was a rise in Europeans visiting Scotland between January and June this year, but tourists from the rest of the world fell by 8% on 2006.

The ONS said in total there had been a 4% rise in international visitors.

The weak dollar and ongoing security concerns have been blamed for the fall in tourists from the US and Canada.

New markets

Tourist body VisitScotland said: "USA is our largest international tourism market but Scotland is fortunate to have a spread of visitors from many international markets.

"Over the last few years we have seen particularly strong growth in the volume and value of European visitors and are developing new markets in Russia, China and India.

"Over 80% of Scotland's visitors come from within the UK."

VisitScotland said that most visitors from the US came to Scotland between July and September and so were not included in the latest figures.

International visitors

ONS figures for visitors to the rest of the UK showed the number of visits made by North American residents between January and August fell by 5% this year.

International tourism was worth �1.4bn to Scotland in 2006, up by 19% on the previous year's figure.

The number of international visitors also increased by 12% to 2.7 million.