GERMAN tourists are the most frequent foreign visitors to Bournemouth, according to new research, with 15,000 travelling to the South Coast resort every year.

Of the 30 million overseas travellers who came to the UK in 2009, 3.9 million (13 per cent) went to a coastal town or city with Bournemouth attracting 55,000 foreign visitors.

The research from VisitBritain coincides with last Saturday’s launch of British Tourism Week.

Scotland dominates the top three coastal locations with Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness sharing the top honours.

Top English destinations are Liverpool, Brighton and Hove, Bristol and Cardiff with Bournemouth the 12th most popular haunt for foreign visitors.

Germans are the most prolific coastal visitors with the lure of the seaside also attracting French, American, Chinese and Russian tourists.

The report confirms that most foreign visits to the coast take place from July to September with January to March the least popular time to travel.

Patricia Yates, co-chair of British Tourism Week, said: “This new report shows how our coastal towns and seaside locations are an important part of our appeal to overseas visitors.

“Visiting a seaside town offers visitors a quintessential coastal experience which is unique to Britain.”

Meanwhile BAA figures published yesterday revealed that passenger numbers were down by 9.5 per cent at Southampton airport last month, compared with February 2010.

However, figures for Scottish airports, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, were up by 5 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.