Reviving inbound tourism: The UK's journey to recovery
- The latest inbound tourism forecast for 2023 anticipates 37.5 million visits, an impressive 92% recovery compared to the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
- In 2023, inbound visitors are projected to spend £30.9 billion, surpassing the 2019 level by 109% in nominal terms.
- Travel and tourism’s total contribution to the UK’s GDP in 2017 was 5.3%. By 2028, travel and tourism’s contribution to the UK’s GDP is expected to decrease significantly to only 2%.
- Overseas residents made 31.2 million visits to the UK in 2022.
- By 2024 and 2025, both domestic and international tourism in the UK is projected to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels.
- Ranked the sixth largest in the world, the UK tourism industry generates £155.4 billion in revenue for the UK economy annually.
- In 2022, London remained the most visited city by international visitors with just over 16 million international visits. However, this figure was approximately 26% lower than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
- Edinburgh and Manchester welcomed a considerable number of tourists in 2022 — 1.8 million and 1.2 million respectively — making them the second and third most popular destinations.
- In 2022, the United States topped the list as the leading inbound travel market for the UK based on the number of visits, with approximately 4.6 million inbound trips from American travelers.
- Following closely were tourist arrivals from France, the Republic of Ireland, and Germany.
- In 2019, Americans spent a record £4.18bn while visiting the UK.
- In 2022, overseas visitors to the UK enjoyed an average stay of 8.4 nights, compared to just over 7 nights in 2019.
- The National History Museum, Brighton Pier, and the British Museum topped the list of the most popular free attractions in England in 2022.
- The Tower of London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and the RHS Garden Wisley topped the list of the most popular paid attractions in England in 2022.
- The Windsor Great Park was the most visited tourist attraction throughout the UK in 2022, attracting 5.6 million visitors.
A surge in travel staycations: UK domestic tourism statistics
- Between April and December 2021, Brits enjoyed nearly 45 million overnight stays within the UK.
- In 2021, domestic travelers in the UK spent £98.7 billion on trips around the UK.
- In 2019, British tourists embarked on almost 123 million domestic holidays.
- The number of outbound international travel trips in 2019 amounted to 93 million.
- Brits took an average of 2.3 domestic vacations between September 2021 and August 2022.
- 20% of Brits say that the South West of the UK is their top destination for overnight domestic trips during summer.
- With staycations on the rise, Brits spent an average of almost £770 on UK getaways in 2021.
- Throughout 2022, British residents made 1.1 billion day trips to places within the UK, spending £45 billion on these trips alone.
Adventure tourism statistics: Visitors to the UK have caught the adventure bug
- The UNWTO reports that the UK boasts Europe’s largest adventure tourism market, accounting for 19% of the world's adventure travel tourists.
- By 2024, the adventure tourism industry revenue is projected to reach £3.8 billion.
- From 2011 to 2019, spending on adventure and water sports in the UK increased from £1.5 billion to £1.8 billion.
- The number of people taking part in adventure and water sports activities in the UK has also increased from 57 million in 2011 to 100 million in 2019.
- In 2021, UK spending on camping trips rose to £2.7 billion.
- In 2019, outdoor-related activities in urban settings accounted for over 60% of all nature-based spending.
- 59% of European millennials have had at least one kind of adventure experience.
Healthcare tourism statistics beyond borders: Medical tourism in the UK is on the rise
- The UK medical tourism market is expected to reach a valuation of over £17 billion by 2032.
- The global medical tourism market is projected to be worth $35.9 billion by 2032.
- In 2020, the UK ranked fifth in the global destination environment ranking for medical tourism.
- In 2021, a total of 34,000 inbound visits to the UK were for medical treatment.
- Of the 34,000 medical tourists in 2021, 62% were from countries in the EU-15, and less than 3% were from North America.
- Tourist spending on medical treatment in the UK is between £178 million to £325 million annually.
- Inbound medical travelers and their companions contribute approximately £219 million to the UK economy through additional tourism expenditures every year.
- Dental care, cosmetic surgery, fertility treatments, organ and tissue transplantation, and cancer treatment top the list of popular procedures for medical tourism trips.
Sports tourism statistic scoring big: Football rules UK sports tourism
- In 2022, 76.2 million people attended professional sporting events throughout the UK.
- According to the latest figures, inbound tourism expenditure on sport and recreation reached an impressive £231 million in the UK.
- In 2019, around 1.5 million inbound visitors attended a live football match, accounting for approximately 1 in every 27 visitors.
- Football is the number one sporting attraction for international tourists visiting the UK, with over 800,000 visitors annually attending a football match.
- Cricket is the second biggest sporting draw with 225,000 annual visitors.
- Since 2010, the value of sport to the UK economy has increased by 40%.
- In 2019, inbound football tourists spent an average of £909 per visit, 31% higher than the average visitor spend of £696 by other inbound tourists.
- In 2019, the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester and the Anfield Stadium in Liverpool had the highest attendance at 440,000 tourist visits.
- The amount spent on golfing activities in the UK grew by 40% between 2011 and 2019, from £800 million to £1.1 billion
Business tourism statistics: Meetings, incentive trips, and exhibitions fuel the business tourism boom in the UK
- In 2022, there were 5.1 million visits to the UK for business reasons.
- Business contributed £5.8 billion in spend in 2019, representing an incredible 20% of all inbound spend.
- Business travelers tend to make flying visits to the UK. In 2019, almost two-thirds of all business visits to the UK lasted between 1 and 3 nights.
- Unlike typical tourism flows, business visits to the UK don't show much seasonality, which means there's a steady number of visitors year-round.
- In 2019, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) made up nearly one-third of all UK business trip expenses, with visitors spending a hefty £1.7 billion.
- In 2019, conferences, conventions, and congresses took the lead among the MICE sub-categories, accounting for 742,000 visits and a whopping total spend of £716 million.
- Large meetings consisting of over 21 people in 2019 accounted for approximately 7% of all business visits (646,000 visits in total), and these travelers spent £573 million.
- In 2019, incentive and team-building trips made 67,000 visits and spent £69 million, making them one of the top-spending business groups with an expenditure of £1,039 per visit.
- In 2019, attendees of exhibitions, events, and trade shows spent a total of £319 million during 319,000 visits.
- In 2021, UK residents made an estimated total of 8.3 million business trips.
- Two-thirds of UK businesses plan to boost business travel spend by 50% or more in 2023.
- The Travel and Tourism Development Index ranked the UK as the fifth-best country for non-leisure travel worldwide in 2021, and the first-best country in Europe.
- Business travelers flocked to London in 2019, with a remarkable 3.98 million visits from abroad, solidifying its position as the top business travel destination in the UK.
- The average cost of a business trip to London has risen by 15% since 2022.
- As of 2023, London is the third most expensive business travel location in Europe.
- Ranked as the eighth most expensive city in the world for business travel, a trip to London costs around £497 per day visit.
- The average spend per domestic business trip in 2019 was £280.
- Over half of business trips to the UK turn into bleisure trips.
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Rural tourism statistics: The charm of rural tourism and sustainable travel is on the rise
- A testament to its beauty, UK nature contributed a remarkable £12 billion to tourism and outdoor leisure in 2019.
- In 2021, the Gross Value Added (GVA) from tourism in Predominantly Rural areas was worth an impressive £11.5 billion.
- During 2019/20, rural areas boasted 66,800 registered tourist-related businesses, making up 11% of the total registered businesses in those regions.
- Tourism-related industries play a more substantial role in rural employment, representing 15% of the total workforce, compared to 11% in urban areas.
- The majority of UK travelers (71%) and US travelers (69%) say that sustainable travel practices are important to them and strive to make more eco-conscious journeys.
- 23% of UK travelers chose to travel to a destination closer to home in order to reduce their carbon footprint.
- In a bid to enhance rural tourism, Scotland allocated £3 million in 2022 to support 10 infrastructure projects, focusing on visitor facilities, access improvements, and promoting eco-friendly transport options.
- An estimated 34% of holidays in Wales involve camping or caravanning, compared to 20% in England and 21% in Scotland.
Music tourism is hitting high notes in the UK
- In 2022, the global music tourism market value was valued at $5.5 billion and is on track to rock 'n' roll all the way up to an incredible $11.3 billion by 2032.
- The thriving music tourism sector sustained a total of 56,000 jobs across the UK in 2022, massively contributing to overall tourism employment statistics in the country.
- In 2022, the UK’s music scene drew in an impressive 1.1 million foreign music tourists and 13.3 million domestic music tourists.
- 2022 marked a crescendo in music tourism spending in the UK, peaking at an impressive £6.6 billion — surpassing the pre-pandemic total in 2019 of £4.7 billion.
- Attracting a staggering 4.9 million music tourists, London is a major magnet for music lovers.
- Thanks to the draw of legendary groups The Beatles, The Stone Roses, and Oasis, the North West region is close behind with 1.9 million music tourists.
- 10% of British people would travel eight hours by plane to see their favorite artists.
- 63% of Brits have been on trips that combined travel with a gig or festival.
- New York and Barcelona are the top dream travel destinations for British music lovers.
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