The British Hospitality Association (BHA) said although its new Travel Monitor revealed the number of overall visitors grew by 3.8%, the number of holiday makers fell by 1.6%

The growth was instead driven by a 3.9% boost in business travellers and an 8% increase in the visiting friends and relatives markets.

The number of outbound holiday passengers grew by 5.9% while a 10.1% boost was reported in September alone.

BHA chief executive Ufi Ibrahim said: “We have launched The BHA Travel Monitor so that we can provide, through detailed and structured analysis of passenger data, a true picture of hospitality and tourism performance.

“For instance our analysis of the increase in the number of incoming people up to the end of September shows that it is not because of more leisure tourists, which might have been the initial impression.

“There has been no post-European referendum tourist surge.”

The BHA Travel Monitor, which will be published monthly and quarterly, also highlights a year on year decrease in overall UK holiday spend by overseas visitors.