America is one of the largest and most important luxury markets in the world valued at $85 billion, forecast to reach $103.5 billion by 2021 (Source: Euromonitor, 2016). New York alone accounts for $25.5 billion or almost one third of the total US luxury market size (Bain 2014) and 75% of British luxury brands have identified the US as a priority growth market (Source: Walpole and McKinsey & Co: Key Growth Drivers of British Luxury, 2016).
The USA is also the UK’s most valuable source market for visitor spending in Britain. According to Visit Britain, 3.91 million Americans visited the UK in 2017, an annual increase of 13.16% on the previous year, and spent a total £3.64 billion with an average single transaction spend of £813 (Source: Global Blue). The leisure market leads the reasons to visit the UK and holidays account for 45% of all visits to the UK. When there, American travellers show a strong emotional connection to luxury, with rich history and collectability leading the reasons to buy luxury products (Source: YouGov Affluent Perspective).
