Visit Scotland | Alba

Looking for advice and support to start, improve, grow, or promote your business? View our new Business Support Hub.

Go to our Business Support Hub

Overview

  • With good connections to Scotland, Italian visitors enjoy exploring many parts of Scotland.
  • In 2023, Italy was Scotland’s ninth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was twelfth by expenditure and ninth by number of nights.
  • Italian visitors accounted for 3% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2023.
  • Italian visitors to Scotland rose in 2023 compared to 2022, but remained below pre-pandemic levels. Despite the increase in arrivals, spending by Italian tourists declined from both 2022 and pre-pandemic times.

In this article:

Key statistics

119,000

total number of visits by Italian visitors to Scotland in 2023

846,000

total number of nights spent in Scotland by Italian visitors in Scotland in 2023

£59 million

total spend by Italian visitors to Scotland in 2023

7.1

average nights per visit by Italian visitors to Scotland in 2023

Source: IPS, 2023 (numbers have been rounded)

1. Executive summary 2023

In 2023, Italy was Scotland’s ninth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was twelfth by expenditure and tenth by number of nights. Italian visitors accounted for 3% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2023.

The number of visitors from Italy increased in 2023, up 13% from 2022. However, this was still 2% below the number of visitors from Italy pre-pandemic.

Italians spent less money in 2023 compared to both 2022 and pre-pandemic levels. Their spending dropped by 12% from 2022 and a steeper 31% compared to before the pandemic. The average spend per trip in 2023 was £498. The average spend per night was £70.

The average length of stay in 2023 was 7.1 nights, unchanged from 2022. This reflects a decrease from pre-pandemic levels, when the average stay was 8.8 nights. This difference is likely due to a decline in visits to see friends and family, which typically last longer than holiday visits.

Source: IPS, 2023

Explore more data on tourismobservatory.scot

2. 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 Italy

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

Southern European tourists are less interested in relaxing and more interested in cultural exploration.

Read the full MIDAS research on visitbritain.org. 

3. 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.

 

4. Additional research resources

VisitBritain’s IPS data viewer by UK nation

visitbritain.org/inbound

VisitBritain’s Italy market profile

visitbritain.org/italy

VisitBritain’s international market segments

visitbritain.org/customer

Related links

Visitors from France

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

Visitors from Spain

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