Overview
- Experiencing different scenery and landscape, as well as our cities is key for Spanish visitors to Scotland.
- In 2022, Spain was Scotland’s fifth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was sixth by expenditure and seventh by number of nights.
- Spanish visitors accounted for 6% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 4% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2022.
- 2022 saw a return to previous pre-pandemic levels of both visits and spend.
- Our factsheet highlights the latest annual data on the volume and value of Spanish visitors to Scotland from the International Passenger Survey (IPS).
- Find methodology information within the official statistics and partners section.
Spain factsheet 2022
Published June 2023
Key statistics
190,000
total number of visits by Spanish visitors to Scotland in 2022
1.1 million
total number of nights spent in Scotland by Spanish visitors in Scotland in 2022
£111 million
total spend by Spanish visitors to Scotland in 2022
5.9
average nights per visit by Spanish visitors to Scotland in 2022
Source: IPS, 2022 (numbers have been rounded)
1. Executive summary 2022
In 2022, Spain was Scotland’s fifth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was sixth by expenditure and seventh by number of nights.
Spanish visitors accounted for 6% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 4% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2022.
2022 saw a return to previous pre-pandemic levels of both visits and spend. Visits almost reached the levels of 2018. Spend in 2022 was at a record high for the last decade.
The average spend per visit in 2022 was £581. The average spend per night was £99.
The average length of stay was 5.9 nights, a fall from pre-pandemic levels of 7.1 nights. This may be due to a decrease in visits to see friends and family which tend to last longer than holiday visits.
View more graphs and charts on tourismobservatory.scot.
Source: IPS, 2022
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 Spain. 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.
