The number of overseas tourist visits to London, United Kingdom continued to grow in 2023, following a sharp drop in 2021, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the significant annual increase, inbound arrivals in the UK's capital remained below pre-pandemic levels, reaching ***** million in 2023. That year, inbound tourist visits to the UK totaled nearly ** million. London leading the way in Europe London’s contribution to inbound tourism in the United Kingdom is significant, with the UK’s capital accounting for over ** percent of international tourist arrivals in the country in 2023. This was more than other leading European destinations, such as Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin. Those visiting the UK capital also made a significant contribution to the local economy, with expenditure of international visitors in London peaking in 2023, with inbound tourists spending over ** billion British pounds that year. However, this was not reflected in business travel spending in the city, which was nearly half a billion British pounds in 2023 than in 2019. London’s visitor attractions As the largest city in the UK, London is home to some of the country's most iconic visitor attractions. These range from government-sponsored museums, such as the British Museum, to the Tower of London and the ZSL London Zoo. In 2023, the ************** was the most visited tourist attraction in London. Overall, most sites have struggled to match the visitation rates recorded before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however. For instance, attendance at the British Museum – the most visited free attraction in London in 2023 – declined by around ***** percent from 2019.

In 2023, the number of overseas resident visits to the United Kingdom totaled 38 million, representing a growth of over 20 percent from the previous year. The figure was projected to reach 38.7 million in 2024. Has the UK’s tourism industry completely recovered from the coronavirus pandemic? Like in most countries, the travel restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the UK’s tourism industry. Overseas visitor numbers dropped to 7.1 million in 2021, representing a drop of over 80 percent from 2019. While the figure reported for 2023 showed a continued recovery in terms of overseas visitors to the UK, it remained below pre-pandemic levels. However, in terms of spending among the UK’s leading inbound travel markets, most overseas visitors spent more in 2023 than in 2019, with visitors from the UK’s leading inbound travel market, the United States, spending around 50 percent more during their travels than in 2019. What are the most visited cities in the UK? Unsurprisingly, London consistently ranked as the most visited town or city in the UK among international tourists in recent years, drawing in 20.27 million visitors in 2023. This was around tenfold the number of the second-most visited city, Edinburgh, which received 2.32 million visitors during the same year. As the UK’s capital city, London’s tourist attractions are as varied as the city itself; however, one particularly strong draw for inbound visitors is Royal Family-related tourism. This is evident with the top two most visited paid tourist attractions in England being based in London and either belonging to the Royal Family or being run by a Royal-affiliated charity. Meanwhile, among UK residents, London ranks as the second most popular destination for a summer staycation, with the South West ranking first.

The combined number of tourist visits to London, including trips by overseas and domestic visitors, nearly halved in 2021 compared to 2019 due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The sharp drop in total visits was mainly driven by the significant decrease in inbound arrivals, totaling roughly *** million in 2021. On the other hand, as the travel restrictions enforced during the health crisis disrupted international tourism more than domestic travel, overnight trips to London by British residents bounced back in 2021. That year, domestic trips accounted for around ** percent of tourist visits to the UK's capital.

Visit Britain publish data relating to international visitors to the UK. They produce the data in two formats - individual spreadsheets for each region that are updated annually, and a single spreadsheet for all regions, containing less detail but updated quarterly. Data shows London totals for nights, visits, and spend. Data broken down by age, purpose, duration, mode and country. This data is also available from Visit Britain website, including the latest quarterly data for other regions. All data taken from the International Passenger Survey (IPS). Some additional data on domestic tourism can be found on the Visit Britain website, and Visit England both overnight tourism and Day visits pages. Data on accomodation occupancy levels is also available from Visit England. An overview of all tourism data for London can be found in this GLAE report 'Tourism in London' Further information can be found on the London and Partners website. Comparisons of international tourist arrivals with other world cities are produced by Euromonitor and in Mastercard's Global Destination Cities Index of 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. This dataset is included in the Greater London Authority's Night Time Observatory. Click here to find out more.

Tourist Arrivals in the United Kingdom remained unchanged at 3500 Thousand in September. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Tourist Arrivals- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Tower of London was the most popular paid attraction in London in 2023, welcoming roughly 2.8 million visitors. Attendance at the renowned site grew significantly compared to the previous year, nearly catching up with the figure from 2019. Meanwhile, the Royal Botanical Gardens (Kew Gardens) was the second most visited paid attraction in 2023, with just under two million visitors. What is the most popular free tourist attraction in London? In 2023, the British Museum topped the ranking of the most visited free attractions in London, welcoming nearly six million visitors. While attendance at the British Museum did not fully recover from the impact of COVID-19, the number of visitors to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, which came in second in 2023, exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Overall, nine of the ten most visited tourist attractions in London that year did not charge for admission tickets. How many tourists visit London every year? London plays a key role in supporting the travel and tourism sector in the United Kingdom. Both before and after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was by far the city with the highest inbound tourism spending in the UK. In 2023, the number of international tourist visits to London surpassed 20 million, nearly catching up with the overseas tourist visits recorded in 2019.

The British Museum was the most visited free tourist attraction in London in 2023, welcoming roughly 5.8 million visitors. While attendance at the renowned institution increased significantly over the previous year, the number of visitors remained below the figure reported before the COVID-19 pandemic. This was also the case with many other leading attractions, with only the National History Museum and the Royal Museums Greenwich having higher attendance in 2023 compared to 2019, among the listed attractions. Has tourism in London recovered from the impact of COVID-19? In 2023, the number of overseas visits to London exceeded 20 million. While inbound tourist visits experienced a sharp annual increase, they did not fully recovery yet from the impact of COVID-19. That said, expenditure by international visitors in the UK’s capital had more than recovered in 2023, reaching an all-time high that year. London’s contribution to inbound tourism in the UK Both before and after the pandemic, London was by far the most visited city in the UK by international tourists. When looking at the contribution to inbound tourism of leading European travel destinations, the city’s prominent role in supporting inbound tourism in the UK stands out. In 2023, London alone accounted for over half of inbound tourist arrivals in the country.

London Borough level tourism trip estimates (thousands).

The ‘top-down’ nature of the Local Area Tourism Impact (LATI) model (starting with London data) means it is best suited to disaggregate expenditure. However, tourism trips were also disaggregated for comparative purposes using the estimated proportions of spending by overseas, domestic and day visitors in the boroughs. Since the trip estimates are derived from data on trips to London they do not account for trips to different boroughs by visitors whilst in London.

Indicative borough level day visitor/tourist estimates for 2007 were derived from the LDA’s own experimental London level day visitor estimates. As such the borough level day visitor estimates should be treated with caution and the 2007 day visitor estimates are not comparable with those from previous years. They are intended only to give a best estimate of the scale of day visitor tourism in each borough from the currently available data.

Further tourism data for UK regions covering trends in visits, nights, and spend to London by visitors from overseas is available on the Visit Britain website. Analyse data by age, purpose, duration, and quarter.

This dataset is no longer updated.

GLA Economics is providing on an occasional basis medium-term forecasts of tourism visitor nights in London for domestic and international tourists. The forecasts are on a quarterly basis to 2026 and an annual basis to 2032. The estimates tri-angulate data from a number of sources. The methodology note provides more information on how this has been done.

The expenditure of international visitors in London was expected to rise by 17 percent between 2023 and 2031. As forecast, spending of inbound tourists in the UK's capital was estimated to total roughly 14.1 billion British pounds in 2023. This number was predicted to grow to nearly 16.6 billion British pounds by 2031. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the international tourist expenditure in London reached in 2021 the lowest figure in over a decade.

Total visits to the Tower of London in England grew by four percent in 2024 over the previous year. Despite the annual increase, the number of visits remained slightly below the figure reported in 2019, reaching 2.9 million in 2024. What are the most visited heritage sites in England? Both before and after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tower of London topped the ranking of the most visited castles, forts, and monument sites in England. Other popular heritage sites in the country are the Windsor Castle, the Abbey Gardens, and Stonehenge. Overall, visitors to English Heritage sites exceeded six million in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. What are the most visited tourist attractions in London? London is home to some of the most well-known visitor attractions in the United Kingdom. In 2024, three museums ranked as the most visited tourist attractions in London: the British Museum, the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, and the Tate Modern. While attendance at the British Museum and the Natural History Museum surpassed pre-pandemic levels, the number of visits at the Tate Modern remained below the figure from 2019.

Focus on London 2000-2009 archive Focus on London 2009 Packed with interesting information about our capital city, the Focus on London (FoL) report offers a unique snapshot of life in London. The report is produced by the GLA's statistical department, Data Management Analysis Group (DMAG) in partnership with the London Development Agency, Office for National Statistics, London Health Observatory, Met Police, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade. PDF In addition we’ve created a single dataset for the underlying data that support the report so that everyone can access the data. Excel Focus on London 2008 1 DECEMBER 2008 Focus on London 2008 covers a wide range of demographic, social and economic data, providing a statistical portrait of some of the key issues facing the capital. Produced by the Greater London Authority's statistical arm, Data Management Analysis Group (DMAG) it will be of interest to anyone who has a general interest in, or is carrying out research about, London. The report contains over 200 tables of the latest available data for London on several topics, conveniently presented in one place. This edition continues the series started in 1997. PDF Link to index of CSVs Focus on London 2007 JUNE 2007 This is the latest in a series of statistical publications for London going back over a hundred years and provides a digest of some of the key subjects affecting the capital. Jointly produced by the Greater London Authority and the Office for National Statistics, it brings together a wide range of demographic, social and economic datasets to provide a broad picture of London. Many of the tables, maps or charts in the report set London figures alongside those for the UK or England as a whole while several include data at individual borough level. PDF Focus on London 2003 Focus on London 2003 is a statistical digest bringing together a wide range of demographic, social, industrial and economic statistics to provide a comprehensive view of London. It is the product of a unique collaboration between the Office for National Statistics, the Government Office for London, the Greater London Authority and the London Development Agency. There are 12 chapters each focusing on a different aspect of London with key facts and figures: the overview, population, environment, housing, economy, labour market, education and training, living in London, tourism and leisure, travel and communications, public services and London government. PDF Focus on London 2000 Focus on London 2000 brings together statistical information from a wide variety of sources to paint a picture of our capital city today. It looks at changes over recent years and highlights differences between the boroughs, the Inner and Outer areas and the country as a whole. PDF

Local Authority level tourist spend estimates (£ millions).

Indicitive borough level day visitor estimates for 2007 were derived from the LDA’s own experimental London level day visitor estimates. As such the borough level day visitor estimates should be treated with caution and the 2007 day visitor estimates are not comparable with those from previous years. They are intended only to give a best estimate of the scale of day visitor tourism in each borough from the currently available data.

In 2023, spending on domestic overnight trips in Great Britain's capital, London, was around *** billion British pounds, this marks a decrease of around 100 million when compared to the year before, where spending peaked over the period considered.

The number of international tourist arrivals to the selected European destinations increased significantly in 2023 over the previous year, experiencing strong signs of recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in some cases even surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Overall, Paris and the Île-de-France region recorded the highest figure among the selected destinations in 2023, with around **** million inbound tourist arrivals. London and Istanbul followed in the ranking that year, with roughly **** million and **** million arrivals, respectively. What are the most visited countries by international tourists? Both before and after the health crisis, France was the country with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. In 2023, inbound arrivals to France reached *** million, the highest figure reported by the country to date. Meanwhile, the United States, which ranked third by inbound arrivals that year, was the country with the highest international tourism receipts worldwide. Has inbound tourism recovered from the impact of COVID-19? While the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide grew sharply in 2023 compared to the previous year, it remained approximately ** percent lower than in 2019. Overall, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global GDP was **** percent below pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

Average daily rate (ADR) refers to the average price a room is sold for - it is calculated as room revenue divided by rooms sold. In the second quarter of 2024, the nominal average daily rate for hotels in the United Kingdom's capital, London, stood at ***** British pounds, while the real average rate totaled *** British pounds.
Other important KPIs of the London hotel market As one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, London’s hotel market is in a prime position for growth. Following the difficulties that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presented to the tourism industries in both the UK and worldwide, hotel occupancy rates in London stabilized, and stood at over ** percent in the second quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, the nominal RevPAR in London hotels in the same quarter was around *** British pounds. London vs. the rest of the UK Compared to other towns and cities, London is by far the most visited UK destination by overseas visitors. Accordingly, it comes as no surprise that occupancy rates outside of London are consistently lower than in the capital. Similarly, the RevPAR in UK hotels outside of London was less than **** the figure in the capital in 2023.

The number of visits by overseas residents to the United Kingdom gradually recovered in 2022, after falling sharply with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As of **************, inbound tourist visits to the UK totaled roughly *** million, which was an increase from September in the previous year and was only marginally less than pre-pandemic levels for the same month. Over the period considered, visits by overseas tourists to the United Kingdom peaked at *** million in ***********.

During the pandemic, the loss of expenditure in London’s Central Activities Zone (CAZ) due to both workers staying at home and tourists being unable or choosing not to visit has had a major impact on the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.

This analysis seeks to investigate the relative importance of these two cohorts to the CAZ. We estimate local expenditure from commuters to the CAZ in 2020, in a scenario with and without Covid-19. We compare this difference to the anticipated drop in inbound and domestic tourist expenditure in 2020, which we estimate by adjusting forecasts for London produced by Visit Britain.

We estimate a £10.9bn loss in tourism expenditure in the CAZ (£3.5bn domestic and £7.4bn inbound) compared to a £1.9bn loss in expenditure from commuters to the CAZ (£1.4bn of this expenditure is from commuters from London and £0.5bn is from commuters outside of London).

This statistic shows the number of overseas visits by residents of the United Kingdom (UK) from three of the leading London airports between 2000 and 2019. In 2019, Heathrow was the most popular airport for overseas traveling in the UK, with nearly 22 million visits.