"In 2009, some 94,000 people from the Kingdom visited the United Kingdom, compared to 80,000 during the previous year," said Visit Britain’s Chief Executive Sandie Dawe at the conclusion of an event in Dubai promoting tourism in the UK on Thursday.

She hoped this number would increase to 100,000 during 2010.

Dawe added that visitors to the UK from the Gulf countries reached 589,000 last year.

She claimed that Saudis spent over £200 million last year, while overseas residents made 31.9 million visits to the UK in 2008.

VisitBritain is responsible for promoting Britain as a world-class tourist destination and for developing the UK’s visitor economy.

It has representatives in 35 countries around the world and has expanded into India, China, throughout Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia

VisitBritain and Tourism Ireland launched Destination Britain and Ireland (DEBI), a business-to-business travel trade event, in Dubai on Tuesday.

New and established companies from the UK and Ireland attended to showcase their latest travel and tourism offerings.

DEBI is VisitBritain’s biggest trade event in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa region (APMEA), attended by 200 key companies and travel industry specialists.

DEBI has now taken place in the APMEA region for the seventh consecutive year. Previous locations include Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Australia and Hong Kong.

“2010 has been a record year in terms of attendance, with 80 suppliers from 64 companies showcasing their latest travel and tourism packages,” Dawe said of the event.

“The travel and tourism packages that are being showcased certainly bring to light the indisputable value-for-money travel deals which the regional market will continue to enjoy. With a significant year-on-year increase in GCC visitors to the UK and Ireland, Dubai is the ideal location for holding such an event.”

Every year 17 million international consumers visit one of VisitBritain’s 46 websites (www.visitbritain.com) that provide information in 26 different languages.

Harrods’ international marketing and tourism manager Fiona Armitage said following the transfer of ownership to the Qatar Holding Company, the department store plans to embark on new projects for customers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as they form the company’s largest customer base.

Director of all markets for Tourism Ireland Simon Gregory said the GCC was the fastest growing market for inbound tourism to Ireland, with a 52.78 percent increase in business applications in March 2010 over the same month in 2009.

He attributed the growth to increased connectivity and growing awareness of the breadth of holidays on offer in Ireland.