CHINESE tourists continue to flock to the Cotswolds as the area becomes the most desirable destination to visit outside London.

And the number of Chinese Tourists visiting the UK has seen an average growth of about £94million per year between 2009 and 2013, according to a recent report from VisitBritain.

The news has come as no surprise to the Cotswolds Tourism Partnership which is beginning to see a significant upturn after investing considerable effort in attracting visitors from the Far East in the last three years.

Developments include the launch of a Chinese version of the Cotswolds.com website, the production of leaflets in Chinese for a recent trade fair, and the visit of 16 Chinese holiday buyers to the Cotswolds earlier this year which included stops at Bourton and Stow.

This has also been helped by Qing Lin, from Join in China, who has been working with the Partnership to promote the Cotswolds in the country for the past two years.

Sue Adie of Cotswolds Tourism Partnership, said: “Thanks to all the initiatives we are taking, supplemented by Qing's extremely valuable understanding and insight, the Cotswolds is becoming the most desirable destination outside London for Chinese visitors.

“Working with local firms, we have been able to ensure that more Chinese visitors will be staying at our hotels, dining at our restaurants and using our shops.

"We are confident that Gloucestershire will benefit greatly from our relationship with Join in China, which provides us with significant expertise, contacts and enthusiasm, most importantly the commitment from all our partners."