The number of visits abroad from the United Kingdom grew in 2023 over the previous year, reaching close to *** million trips. That year, the most common purpose for travelling abroad for UK residents was for holiday purposes, with over ** million trips made for this reason.

Monthly estimates of overseas residents’ visits and spending and visits and spending abroad by UK or Great Britain residents. Also includes data on purpose of visit, area visited by UK residents and area of residence for overseas residents.

The number of outbound trips from the United Kingdom rose significantly in 2023 over the previous year, following a dramatic decline with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the sharp annual increase, the number of visits abroad from the UK remained below pre-pandemic levels, totaling ***** million in 2023. As the volume of trips abroad grew substantially compared to 2021, so did the outbound tourism expenditure in the UK.

Spending on trips abroad by residents of the United Kingdom increased in 2023, following a dramatic decline with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In total, expenditure on visits abroad from the UK amounted to ***** billion British pounds in 2023. The annual rise in spending on outbound visits was mainly driven by a sharp increase in the number of visits abroad from the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom's outbound travel industry is projected to hit a value of US$ 90.46 billion by 2024. This momentum is expected to be sustained as it is rising at a CAGR of 8.60%, leading to an estimated valuation of US$ 206.43 billion by 2034.

Category wise insights

This report analyses the total number of outbound tourist trips by UK residents. The data is sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), collated within its "overseas travel and tourism (OTT) time series", and estimates are afforded by IBISWorld. The OTT time series provides seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted estimates of completed international visits to and from the United Kingdom, and was originally based on International Passenger Survey (IPS) data. Developed by the ONS, the IPS produces estimates on the basis of 250,000 interviews conducted over a given year. Interviews are conducted at all major UK airports and seas routes, at Eurostar terminals and on Eurotunnel shuttle trains. In this report, quarterly data is summed to produce tourism figures over financial years (i.e. April through March) and is not adjusted for seasonality.

Air travel was the most common form of transport used to travel overseas among residents of the United Kingdom in 2023, used for over 75.86 million visits. Meanwhile, sea and tunnel travel accounted for roughly 10.35 million visits abroad.

The outbound travel market in the United Kingdom is projected to reach USD 98.24 billion by 2025 and increase to USD 224.17 billion by 2035, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.60%.

Analyzing UK Outbound Travel Market by Top Investment Segments

In September 2023, visits abroad from the United Kingdom totaled roughly *** million, which was an increase on September in the previous year and was only marginally less than pre-pandemic levels for the same month. Over the period considered, monthly outbound visits from the UK peaked at around **** million in August 2019. Tourism in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic turned the global tourism industry upside down, with countries worldwide enacting lockdowns and travel bans to limit the spread of the virus. As a result of the emergency measures, the total number of outbound tourist visits from the United Kingdom declined by ** percent in 2020 over the previous year, then dropped even further in 2021, reaching the lowest figure in a decade. 2022 saw a partial recovery, however, levels still remained below what was recorded before the pandemic. Meanwhile, the impact of the health crisis on inbound tourist visits in the UK was even harder, with the country recording just *** million visits from abroad in 2021. Contribution of travel and tourism to the economy in the UK In 2022, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the UK amounted to roughly ***** billion British pounds, which was around * percent lower than before the pandemic. That year, the travel and tourism industries supported around *** million jobs in the country. Even in this case, however, travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in the UK did not catch up with the figure reported in 2019.

Annual estimates of visits and spending by UK residents abroad. Also includes data on nights, purpose, main country visited and mode of travel. Breakdowns by length of stay and nationality are covered. In 2019, new methods were introduced for this dataset. The 2009 to 2019 edition supersedes all previous time series editions of this dataset. We advise against using all editions listed before the 2019 edition.

As of January 2025, the United States was the leading outbound travel market for the United Kingdom, based on the growth in travel demand on Google in the previous 30 days. According to the analysis, the Google search volume in the UK concerning flights and accommodation in the U.S. rose by ***** percent over the last month. Meanwhile, travel demand for the United States increased by ** percent over the previous 90 days.

United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Number of Departures data was reported at 70,815,000.000 Person in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 65,720,000.000 Person for 2015. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Number of Departures data is updated yearly, averaging 58,447,500.000 Person from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2016, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 70,815,000.000 Person in 2016 and a record low of 41,345,000.000 Person in 1995. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Number of Departures data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Tourism Statistics. International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.; ; World Tourism Organization, Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files.; Gap-filled total;

Spending on visits abroad by residents of the United Kingdom grew in 2023 over the previous year, after shrinking due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2023, holidays accounted for the highest outbound expenditure, with spending on vacations abroad amounting to nearly 50 billion British pounds. This represented not only an increase over the previous two years, but also from before the pandemic, with holiday spending having stood at 43.36 billion British pounds in 2019.

Seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted estimates of completed international visits. Based on International Passenger Survey data.

United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures: for Travel Items data was reported at 64.774 USD bn in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 66.813 USD bn for 2015. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures: for Travel Items data is updated yearly, averaging 55.972 USD bn from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2016, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 76.584 USD bn in 2007 and a record low of 24.926 USD bn in 1995. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures: for Travel Items data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Tourism Statistics. International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries. The goods and services are purchased by, or on behalf of, the traveler or provided, without a quid pro quo, for the traveler to use or give away. These may include expenditures by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are so important as to justify a separate classification. Excluded is the international carriage of travelers, which is covered in passenger travel items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.; ; World Tourism Organization, Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files.; Gap-filled total;

United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures data was reported at 79.371 USD bn in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 82.824 USD bn for 2015. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures data is updated yearly, averaging 67.664 USD bn from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2016, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 90.243 USD bn in 2007 and a record low of 30.749 USD bn in 1995. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Tourism Statistics. International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.; ; World Tourism Organization, Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files.; Gap-filled total;

The travel spending of UK tourists abroad roughly tripled between 1999 and 2019. In 2019, the United Kingdom's outbound travel spending amounted to roughly **** billion British pounds. In that year, the inbound travel spending, namely the travel expenditure of overseas visitors in the United Kingdom, reached about **** billion British pounds.

GlobalData’s "Tourism Source Market Insights: UK", provides a thorough insight into the UK's domestic and outbound tourism industry. The report shades light into the profiles of UK tourists and summarizes the key reasons why the British travel. The report offers an in-depth analysis of traveler flows, spending patterns, main destination markets and current and future opportunities for tourism businesses seeking to tap into the UK outbound travel market. Read More

United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures: % of Total Imports data was reported at 9.869 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 9.864 % for 2015. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures: % of Total Imports data is updated yearly, averaging 10.024 % from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2016, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.078 % in 2003 and a record low of 8.279 % in 2011. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Expenditures: % of Total Imports data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Tourism Statistics. International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Their share in imports is calculated as a ratio to imports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from nonresidents to residents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.; ; World Tourism Organization, Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, and IMF and World Bank imports estimates.; Weighted average;

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 ********** visits.