MORE than 26 million overseas visitors will come to Britain this year, making 2004 a record year for inbound tourism, according to VisitBritain, the government-funded tourism marketing body.

The organisation, which today publishes its annual report, says the estimated total of 26.34 million visitors — a rise of 6.6 per cent on 2003 — will eclipse the previous record of 25.75 million visitors recorded in 1998.

Although the total spend by overseas visitors has yet to match the record year of 2000 — the value of inbound tourism will be up 4 per cent on 2003 at £12.3 billion — the figures still represent a significant bounceback from the woes of the past three years.

The low point came in 2001 when fallout from the foot and mouth epidemic and the September 11 attacks in the US resulted in a drop in visitors to 22 million.

At the launch of the VisitBritain annual report, Tom Wright, chief executive, will reiterate the organisation’s belief that, with continued investment in marketing, the total value of tourism to Britain, including the domestic market, can rise from £76 billion a year to £100 billion by 2010, potentially creating another 600,000 jobs for Britain.

Part of the growth is expected to come from China, which is about to sign a historic agreement with the UK that will for the first time enable all Chinese citizens to travel here as tourists.

Indian visitors are also likely to feature strongly after bilateral negotiations resulting in an agreement to increase the number of direct flights from 19 a week to 40 from seven Indian airports rather than the current four.

VisitBritain has launched a marketing campaign that taps into the growing use of British locations by the Bollywood film industry. A Bollywood Movie Map has been produced that enables film-lovers to visit the locations of more than 20 recent productions.

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