THE number of international tourists visiting Glasgow rose to a record 787,000 last year.

The number is up by nearly a fifth while spending by visitors rose by more than a third to £319 million - both record levels for the city.

The figures come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) travel trends survey published earlier this month and have now been analysed by city tourism leaders.

It was found the majority of international tourists to Glasgow in 2017 came from Europe (400,000) and North America (218,000), with five nights the average stay.

Glasgow Life highlighted festivals such as Celtic Connections, the World Pipe Band Championships and sporting events as key attractions along with international conferences and conventions.

The city's growth was above Scotland as a whole, with figures for 2017 showing there was a 17% rise in the number of overseas visitors to 3.2 million, with spending up 23% to £2.3 billion.

Councillor David McDonald, chair of Glasgow Life and deputy leader of the city council, said: "Attracting more international visitors through creative marketing and inspirational content is at the heart of Glasgow's tourism plan.

"As we prepare to welcome thousands of tourists from across Europe over the next two weeks to the first-ever European Championships, our priority now is to ensure that Glasgow messaging remains front of mind this year and beyond, and that we continue to capitalise on the interest in the city that we know exists globally at present."

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: "Tourism is the heartbeat of the Scottish economy and touches every community; generating income, jobs and social change.

"The results of this rise in overseas tourism to Glasgow will see ripple effects across the city and beyond."

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: "Growing Glasgow's tourism was always an important goal of delivering the Commonwealth Games, and the aim of the tourism plan is clear - an extra one million visitors to the city each year, boosting the economy and bringing jobs."