Detail Sampel

The line chart compares how many tourists travelling abroad to the UK for three main purposes over the period from 1989 to 2009. Overall, it is evident that all categories experienced upward trends at different rates throughout the two-decade period. Generally, while going on holidays remained the most common reason, the least popular was recorded for social meetings. The number of travellers to the UK for holiday and business witnessed considerable increases over 20 years. In 1989, holidays were the dominant reason with 6.5 million people, compared with 5 million people going for business. Regarding holidaymakers, the figure remained stable before reaching a peak at 9 million in the period between 1994 and 1999. However, it then plummeted to its initial level in 2004, followed by a recovery to 9 million over five years. In terms of those for business, having been declined moderately by 1 million, it jumped to 6 million in 1994. After slightly fluctuating, the number of visitors rose by around 2 million, ending with a drop to 7 million in 2009. The number of foreign travellers to the UK to meet friends and relatives underwent a steep increase over 20 years. Initially standing at around 3.5 million people, which was only half of the holidays, the number of travellers for social relationships experienced more than a twofold increase in 2004. There was a subsequent drop of 1 million in the figure for business at the end of the period.