UK TOURISM prospered in 2002 according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics and indications are that when this year”s data is released it will be better still. These are in contrast to 2001 when, with the after effects of 9/11 the numbers coming in dropped by 10%, the worst fall in 20 years. There were 24.2m visitors to the UK, but twice as many of us went abroad. Spain overtook France as the most popular holiday destination with 12.5m trips as against 12.1m to the former frontrunner. For 2003 the gap is likely to be much wider. http://www.statistics.gov.uk