Sports Tourists Love This Country

Don't thank the Olympics -- at least not yet.

The U.K. has seen a huge surge in the number of people visiting the country to watch sports, tourism officials say, but the latest figures, from 2011, don't yet reveal the impact of the London Games.

Soccer is the number one draw for visitors and as many as 61,000 U.S. citizens told tourism officials they'd visited specifically for a game. Other popular events for visitors include Wimbledon and a variety of cricket tournaments.

VisitBritian, the country's tourism promotion office, says the news is good because sports fans are likely to spend £200 ($320) more per person during a trip than the average tourist.

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