Tourism: Icelanders have hots for Scots shops

Icelanders have the hots for British shops: tourists from there spend more per day - an average of pounds 99 - than any other overseas visitors to the UK, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. Much of the spending is on shopping trips to Scotland.

The figures also showed a record 42 million visits were made abroad by UK residents in 1996 - up 3 per cent on the 1995 level. Spending on these trips totalled a record pounds 16.3bn - up 6 per cent. France was the most popular destination, followed by Spain, Ireland, the USA and Germany. A record 25 million visits were made by overseas residents to the UK last year - up 7.5 per cent on the 1995 total. More visits were made by French residents than from any other country. Although Icelanders were the top daily spenders, the highest spenders overall were Americans, followed by the Germans.