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.

During the second quarter of 2025, visits abroad from the United Kingdom totaled ******million, which was an increase over the previous quarter. However, this figure remained below pre-pandemic levels for the same month. Over the period considered, monthly outbound visits from the UK peaked at around *****million in the third quarter of 2024. 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. Since then, outbound visitation rates not only recovered but reached a record high in 2024, totaling over ** million visits. However, inbound tourist visits in the UK have not recovered at the same rate, with the 2024 figure around five percent lower than in 2019. Contribution of travel and tourism to the economy in the UK In 2024, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the UK amounted to *** billion British pounds, which was around **** percent higher than before the pandemic. Meanwhile, travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in the UK is significant, with *** million jobs supported by the industry in 2024, which was slightly lower than 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.

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.

Continental Europe was the main destination for business travelers from the United Kingdom in 2023. In that year, UK business visitors accounted for around **** million trips to Europe, which nearly a million more than the previous year.

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 ** 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 ***** billion British pounds in 2019.

Annual inbound, outbound and domestic expenditure on tourism, internal tourism consumption and employment for the tourism industries.

Mexico had the highest share of total outbound trips taken by Americans in 2014, at 28.5%. In 2014, 19.5 million Americans visited this country, making it the lead tourism destination Read More

Spain was the most visited country by residents of the United Kingdom in 2024, with approximately ***** million visits. This figure was marginally lower than in 2019, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Meanwhile, ************************* followed in the 2024 ranking; of these, only ****** reported a higher number of visits that year compared to pre-pandemic levels. Spain still a favorite among UK holidaymakers Spain has become a firm favorite among holiday travelers from Britain, as it continually lists as the most visited holiday destination abroad. Beach holidays are popular among Brits searching for warmer climates, and the relative ease and cheapness of package holidays to the Mediterranean make it possible. Outbound tourism from the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic As suggested by the figures recorded by the leading outbound travel destinations, the number of visits abroad from the United Kingdom continued to recover in 2024 and even passed pre-pandemic levels for the first time since travel restrictions were lifted. As the volume of visits bounced back, the outbound tourism expenditure in the UK also experienced a sharp annual increase in 2024, with spending having in fact already exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

In 2023, UK business travelers in Europe spent **** billion British pounds during their trips, which shows an increase of approximately six percent versus 2019. Meanwhile, business travelers from the UK spent **** billion British pounds in North America in 2023.

Number of departures of United Kingdom sank by 74.40% from 93,086,000 number in 2019 to 23,827,000 number in 2020. Since the 3.82% upward trend in 2018, number of departures plummeted by 73.69% in 2020. 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.

Portugal’s domestic and outbound tourism markets were adversely affected due to economic crisis in the country. Domestic trips hardly grew while expenditure contracted during the historic period. Outbound trips and expenditure also declined during the historic period. However, as the economy started recovering in 2014, Canadean expects domestic trips to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% reaching 18.5 million by 2019 while outbound trips are projected to grow at a rate of 3.1% reaching 1.8 million by 2019. Inbound tourist volume is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 3.7% over the forecast period reaching 18.5 million in 2019. Apart from the traditional European markets, arrivals from China and the US will support the growth Read More

Domestic tourism went through a difficult phase, declining from 202.8 million in 2009 to 199.2 million in 2014, as there was a nominal growth in GDP at constant prices. As the economy is expected to perform better over the forecast period (2014–2019), domestic trips are expected to reach 211.9 million by 2019. However, inbound tourism grew at a CAGR of 2.03% in the historic period, increasing from 76.8 million in 2009 to 84.9 million in 2014. This was mainly due to the growth in passengers using air transportation through the opening of several new routes. With the launch of the 'Be Nicer to Travelers‘ tourist campaign in June 2015, there is a target to attract 100 million tourists by 2020. There was a slight growth in outbound trips during the historic period, from 24.4 million in 2009 to 25.4 million in 2014. These are likely to reach 26.7 million by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 1% over the forecast period. Read More

This statistic shows the annual number of overnight stays by UK residents in North America in 2019, by purpose of visit. The total amount of nights spent on holiday visits to North America reached around **** million in 2019. Overnight stays on trips to friends and relatives amounted to around **** million.

The number of outbound trips from the United Kingdom rose significantly in 2024 over the previous year, following a dramatic decline with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. With this sharp increase, the number of visits abroad from the UK surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time since restrictions were lifted, totaling ***** million in 2024. As the volume of trips abroad grew substantially, so did the outbound tourism expenditure in the UK.

Brazil’s tourism sector recorded strong growth during 2009–2014, fueled by a rising middle class population. Domestic trips increased from 175.4 million in 2009 to 226.4 million in 2014, recording an average annual growth of 5.2%. During 2015–2019 domestic trips are projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.4%, reaching 294.1 million. Sports events such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup supported the growth of inbound tourism and domestic tourism (two million domestic and 1.1 million foreign visitors), and the same is expected during the 2016 Olympic games. Inbound tourist volume is expected to grow from 6.2 million in 2014 to 7.9 million by 2019, while outbound trips will increase from 8.6 million to 10 million Read More

The annual spending on visits by residents of the United Kingdom (UK) to Europe (for all purposes) has increased over the period from 2011 to 2019. The total amount spent on visits to Europe reached around **** billion British pounds in 2019.

The annual spending on visits by residents of the United Kingdom (UK) to North America has increased over the period from 2011 to 2019. The total amount spent on visits to North America reached around *** billion British pounds in 2019.

In 2024, the number of overseas resident visits to the United Kingdom totaled 39 million, representing a growth of around three percent from the previous year. 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 2024 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, overseas visitors spent more in 2024 than in 2019, with visitors from the UK’s leading inbound travel market, the United States, spending around 70 percent more during their travels than in 2019. What are the most visited cities in the UK? Unsurprisingly, London has consistently ranked as the most visited town or city in the UK among international tourists in recent years, drawing in over 20 million visitors in 2024. This was around tenfold the number of the second-most visited city, Edinburgh, 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 average daily spend by UK business travelers in Europe amounted to *** British pounds in 2023. This represents a decline of around **** percent versus 2022. Meanwhile, business tourists from the United Kingdom in North America spent an average of *** British pounds per day in 2023.