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.

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.

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.

This dataset shows how many people visited Attractions in Lincolnshire by calendar year. Visitor numbers for a wide range of attractions are shown, along with other key information such as entrance fees.

The data's source is the Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions, run by Visit England. (As usual with survey data there are some limitations, such as not all visitor attractions participating in the survey, and where visitor numbers are estimated that is indicated in the data).

This dataset is updated annually from statistics published by Visit Britain, see the Source link for more information.

Around *** million trips were made by European travelers to England in 2023. Around ** percent of these visits were to London, with visits to the capital city exceeding ** million that year. Meanwhile, ***** million tourists from Europe visited Scotland.

In 2023, the United States was the leading inbound travel market for the United Kingdom based on the number of visits. That year, the UK reported approximately 5.12 million inbound trips from the U.S., surpassing the figures recorded in 2019 and 2022. In total, the number of inbound visits in the UK reach nearly 40 million in 2023.

United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals data was reported at 35,814,000.000 Person in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 34,436,000.000 Person for 2015. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals data is updated yearly, averaging 28,119,000.000 Person from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2016, with 22 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 35,814,000.000 Person in 2016 and a record low of 20,982,000.000 Person in 2001. United Kingdom UK: International Tourism: Number of Arrivals 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 inbound tourists (overnight visitors) are the number of tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they have their usual residence, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited. When data on number of tourists are not available, the number of visitors, which includes tourists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members, is shown instead. Sources and collection methods for arrivals differ across countries. In some cases data are from border statistics (police, immigration, and the like) and supplemented by border surveys. In other cases data are from tourism accommodation establishments. For some countries number of arrivals is limited to arrivals by air and for others to arrivals staying in hotels. Some countries include arrivals of nationals residing abroad while others do not. Caution should thus be used in comparing arrivals across countries. The data on inbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival.; ; World Tourism Organization, Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files.; Gap-filled total;

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.

London’s Tourism Direct GVA (TDGVA) in 2019 is estimated by taking London’s share of the latest ONS regional TDGVA publication (2013) and multiplying it with the latest TDGVA estimate (2017) for the UK. The resulting figure is then multiplied with a ratio of London spend data from VisitBritain’s International Passenger Surveys from 2019 and 2017. This approach assumes 1) that London’s share of UK TDGVA has remained constant from 2013 to 2017 and 2) a constant relation between spend and GVA from 2017 to 2019.

The annual VisitBritain forecast for the volume and value of inbound tourism to the UK is issued in December each year. They have however updated this to reflect the impact of COVID-19 on inbound tourism to the UK, as well as an estimate of impact on domestic tourism within England. These were used to estimate London’s tourism spend for 2020. More details on the inbound tourism forecast for 2020 to the UK and domestic tourism with in England for 2020 can be found at Visit Britain.

Following the sharp drop in inbound visits to the United Kingdom during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the volume of overseas visits was close to returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2023. That year, there were nearly ** million overseas resident visits to the UK, while the figure for 2019 had been ***** million visits. In both years, the most common reason for making a trip to the UK had been for holidays.

Annual official statistic measuring the number of visits to English visitor attractions. Results are published in August each year. Key survey deliverables include a powerpoint report (currently published as pdf), top 20 listings by region (pdf) and an excel listing of visits to all participating attractions who give permission for data to be used. All current survey deliverables are online at http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/attractions/Annual_Survey/index.aspx

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.

Annual estimates of overseas residents’ visits and spending. Also includes data on nights, purpose, region of UK visited and mode of travel. Breakdowns by nationality and area of residence 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.

Quarterly estimates of overseas residents’ visits and spending. Also includes data on nights, purpose, region of UK visited and mode of travel. Breakdowns by nationality and area of residence are covered. This dataset is published quarterly. The versions published for Quarters 1 (Jan to Mar), 2 (Apr to June) and 3 (July to Sept) are on a separate webpage under the name "Estimates of overseas residents' visits and spending".

Annual official statistic measuring the volume and value of domestic overnight tourism in Britain. Jointly sponsored by Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit Wales. Publication schedule for monthly results is at http://www.visitengland.org/Images/Continuous%20surveys_2013_v7_tcm30-32182.pdf All current survey deliverables (including online data browser) are at http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/overnightvisitors/index.aspx

With the help of VisitBritain’s (tourist board of Great Britain) tourism promotional efforts, the UK’s tourism sector depicted growth during 2010–2015, when domestic and inbound tourist volumes rose at a CAGR of 1.99% and 3.81% respectively. The growth in outbound tourism was supported by the improved economic growth in the same period. Read More

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;

This statistic illustrates the likelihood of international travelers to visit Britain following the decision of the EU referendum ('brexit') in 2016, according to a consumer sentiment survey conducted in March 2018. Overall, the majority of respondents stated that the referendum result made no difference to their likelihood to visit Britain. Chinese travelers were the market most likely to visit Britain, with ** percent saying they were more likely to visit and ** percent much more likely. Only **** percent of Chinese respondents said they were less likely to visit.

Annual estimates of visits and spending for UK residents abroad and for overseas residents visiting the UK.