The volume of international visitors arriving in the UK was up 11% in the first three months of 2004 compared to the same months in 2003. The total reached 5.5 million people.

The biggest growth has come from Western Europe with a rise of 12%. In March alone, the rise from Western Europe, the biggest source market for the UK, was 17%.

VisitBritain chief executive Tom Wright said: 'With visits from all regions increasing and positive evidence from VisitBritain's overseas markets, we are increasingly confident that 2004 will see Britain's tourism recovery to make great strides.'

There is also a return of North American visitors with a 10% growth in numbers from that region during the first quarter. This indicated that pent-up demand was being released, said Wright.

While the volume of visitors soared, the amount spent was more restrained. The figures showed a £2.22bn spend in total for the first three months of 2004, up 3% on the first quarter in 2003.