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Overview

  • In 2024, China was Scotland's twelfth largest long-haul international market by number of visits. It was thirteenth by number of nights and tenth by expenditure.
  • In 2024 Chinese visitors accounted for 2% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland.
  • The Chinese market showed some signs of recovery in 2024 with visits up by 50% on 2023. However, it has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels in terms of visits, nights, and spend.

In this article:

Key statistics

87,605

total number of visits by Chinese visitors to Scotland in 2024

605,623

total number of nights spent in Scotland by Chinese visitors in Scotland in 2024

£83 million

total spend by Chinese visitors to Scotland in 2024

6.9

average nights per visit by Chinese visitors to Scotland in 2024

Source: International Passenger Survey 2024

1. Market performance 2024

In 2024, China was Scotland’s twelfth largest international source market, measured by number of visits. It was ranked tenth by expenditure and thirteenth by number of nights.

Chinese visitors accounted for 2% of all overseas visits and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2024.

The Chinese market showed some signs of recovery in 2024 with visits up by 50% on 2023. However, it has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels in terms of visits, nights, and spend.

Both spend and nights were down 29% and 67% respectively compared to 2023 and down 39% and 70% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The average spend per visit in 2024 was £953. The average length of stay was 6.9 nights.

Source: International Passenger Survey, 2024 

Explore more data on tourismobservatory.scot

2. Understanding Chinese holidaymakers

In 2019, we commissioned research with active outbound holidaymakers from the three largest cities in mainland China.

The research participants were travellers aged 25 to 45 who had a propensity for long haul travel outside of Asia. A group of visitors to Scotland were also included in the research. The study was carried out by Kubi Kalloo.

Understanding Chinese holidaymakers

Published September 2019

Download (1,244Kb)

  • Motivations

    Chinese holidaymakers were motivated by:

    • seeking quality time in natural beauty
    • soaking up the local culture
    • getting away from it all

  • Planning and booking

    Online travel agencies, travel review sites and social media play an important role in the planning and booking stages.

  • Visitor experiences

    Unexpected experiences that wowed visitors included:

    • attending events
    • seeing wildlife in its natural habitat
    • visiting art exhibitions
    • road tripping
    • meeting new people

3. VisitBritain MIDAS research 2022

In 2022, our partner, VisitBritain undertook comprehensive research with international leisure travellers. They spoke to global tourists from many markets, including Australia.

Whilst the research focuses on perceptions and experiences of Britain, there are insights which are useful for the Scottish tourism industry.

Long-haul markets see Britain more consistently as offering heritage and history, the ability to roam and explore a broad mix of "must-do" experiences (both old & new).

Read the full MIDAS research on visitbritain.org.

4. Official statistics and partners

The International Passenger Survey is a continuous survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics. It covers all major air, sea and tunnel ports.

The survey provides information on the numbers and types of visits made by people travelling to and from the UK. Anonymous face to face interviews are undertaken with a sample of passengers entering and leaving the UK.

Find out more on the survey methodology on ons.gov.uk.

Read further ONS publications on ons.gov.uk.

Read how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the IPS data collection on visitbritain.org.

5. Additional research resources

VisitBritain’s IPS data viewer by UK

visitbritain.org/inbound

VisitBritain’s China market profile

visitbritain.org/china

VisitBritain’s international market segments

visitbritain.org/customer

Related links

Visitors from Canada

Read key insight into our Canadian visitors including number of trips, nights, and spend.