Foreign tourists come to Shropshire to admire its “built heritage”, bringing a £30million boost to the county economy, according to a new study today by VisitBritiain.

The survey, entitled Activities Undertaken by Visitors from Overseas in Different Parts of Britain, reveals massive variations in the way that overseas travellers enjoy themselves in different parts of the country.

Top county destinations for foreign tourists include Ironbridge World Heritage Site, and, as well as sightseeing, visitors also head for Shropshire for its restaurants, food and shopping.

It strongly suggests that the key reason why foreign tourists come is to see the “built heritage” – famous buildings – but they are then entranced by the lavish opportunities to go shopping and the quality of contemporary food.

In a boost for Britain’s reputation for good food, 79 per cent of overseas holidaymakers said eating in our restaurants was their top activity, followed by shopping for clothes and accessories (67 per cent), sightseeing famous buildings and monuments (64 per cent), shopping for souvenirs (58 per cent) and visiting pubs (52 per cent).

Next came visiting a museum, visiting parks and gardens, socialising with locals, visiting religious monuments or buildings, exploring away from where they were staying, visiting a castle, visiting an historic house and visiting an art gallery.

Foreign visitors were drawn to Shropshire and the West Midlands last year by the friendly welcome and charming countryside.

A relatively large proportion of foreign holidaymakers “socialised with the locals”, visited the countryside and toured the “lovely villages”.

Paul Gossage, director of marketing and PR for Ironbridge Gorge Museums, said: “About seven per cent of our guests are from overseas, mainly from the USA, Australia and Canada, others travel from Holland, Belgium and Germany.

“Most of them have been to the UK before, having visited the main tourism destinations such as London, Bath, Stratford and Edinburgh and then return to the UK to see the quieter and less well know areas, such as Ironbridge.”

By Ben Bentley