Skip to main content
Visit Scotland | Alba

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

Overview

  • Experiencing different scenery and landscape, as well as our cities is key for Spanish visitors to Scotland.
  • In 2024, Spain was Scotland’s tenth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was twelfth by expenditure and tenth by number of nights.
  • Spanish visitors accounted for 3% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2023.

Key statistics

137,941

total number of visits by Spanish visitors to Scotland in 2024

853,493

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

£74 million

total spend by Spanish visitors to Scotland in 2024

6.2

average nights per visit by Spanish visitors to Scotland in 2024

Source: International Passenger Survey 2024

1. Market performance 2024

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

Spanish visitors accounted for 3% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2024.

After a strong performance in 2023, the Spanish market declined in 2024 with visits, spend, and nights all down on the previous year. Both visits and spend were down 31% compared to 2023.

However, visits, spend, and nights in 2024 still outperformed pre-pandemic levels with visits increasing by 7% and spend increasing by 44% compared to pre-pandemic. The average spend per visit in 2024 remained £539.

The average length of stay was 6.2 nights, a decrease from an average of 7.19 nights in 2023.

Source: International Passenger Survey , 2024

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 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.

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

Other things you might like