Tourism day visits and spend to Scotland 2023 and 2022
| Year | Visits | Spend | Spend per visit |
| 2023 | 92.9 million | 3,879 million | £42 |
| 2022 | 94.8 million | 3,937 million | £42 |
| % change | -2% | -1% | 0 |
Overview
- The Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) is a national consumer survey. It measures the volume and value of domestic day visits taken by residents in Great Britain. The survey provides detailed information about trip and visitor characteristics.
- The survey is jointly sponsored by VisitEngland, VisitScotland, and Visit Wales. It's currently undertaken by independent research agency, BMG.
- This page details the findings for domestic day visits in Scotland. Figures for Great Britain have also been provided for comparative purposes.
- The statistics from 2021 onwards are based on a new combined online survey. These replace the separate Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) and Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) which ran until the end of 2019. Please note that there are limitations of comparability with data up until 2019.
1. Executive summary 2023
92.9 million
tourism day visits to Scotland by GB residents in 2023
£3.9 billion
total tourism day visit spend by GB residents in Scotland in 2023
£42
average daily spend per tourism day visit in Scotland in 2023
Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey, 2023
Volume and spend on day visits 2023
Great Britain residents took 293.4 million leisure day visits lasting over three hours in Scotland with £9.5 billion spent during these visits in 2023. 32% of leisure day visits taken in Scotland were tourism day visits. There were 92.9 million tourism day visits taken with an associated spend of £3.9 billion.
When compared with 2022, tourism day visits and associated spend to Scotland had decreased. The average spend for tourism day visits to Scotland had stayed stable at £42 per visit.
Quarter 3 (July to September) of 2023 had the highest total tourism day visits at 30.6 million. Level of spend was highest during October to December 2023, with a total of £1.0 billion spent on tourism day visits.
The average spend on over three hour leisure day visits was £32 in Scotland compared to £37 average for leisure day visits taken in Great Britain.
The average spend for tourism day visits in Scotland was £42 compared to the average of £44 taken in Great Britain.
Profile of tourism day visits 2023
The largest proportion of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to visit friends or relatives (24%). The activity undertaken on tourism day visits that had the highest level of spend was food and drink, a night out, or speciality shopping (£704 million).
Almost half of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to large cities or towns (47%). These locations also saw the highest level of spend at £2.6 billion.
The West of Scotland was the main region that was visited for 45% of tourism day visits during trips to Scotland in 2023. Tourism day visits to this region also generated the highest proportion of spend (45%).
Residents of Scotland generated the highest volume of tourism day visits and spend in Scotland. This accounted for 82% of tourism day visits taken and 80% of spend.
Families accounted for the highest proportion of tourism day visits (47%) and spend (44%) in Scotland.
Great Britain Day Visits Survey quarter four and full year 2023 - full report
Published March 2024
Includes methodology and quality report.
Great Britain Day Visits Survey quarter three 2023 - full report
Published December 2023
Includes methodology and quality report.
Great Britain Day Visits Survey quarter two 2023 - full report
Published October 2023
Great Britain Day Visits Survey quarter one 2023 - full report
Published August 2023
Life stage definitions updated November 2023.
2. Executive summary 2022
94.8 million
tourism day visits to Scotland in 2022
£3.9 billion
total tourism day visits expenditure in Scotland in 2022
£42
average daily spend per tourism day visit in Scotland in 2022
Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey, 2022
Volume and spend on day visits 2022
Great Britain residents took 290.5 million leisure day visits lasting over three hours in Scotland with £9.0 billion spent during these visits. 33% of leisure day visits taken in Scotland were tourism day visits. There were 94.8 million tourism day visits taken with an associated spend of £3.9 billion.
There was a gradual increase in tourism day visits taken in Scotland throughout the year. Tourism day visit volumes and spend were highest in October to December 2022.
The average spend on over three hours leisure day visits was £31 in Scotland compared to £34 average for leisure day visits taken in Great Britain.
The average spend for tourism day visits in Scotland was marginally higher at £42 compared to the average of £41 taken in Great Britain.
Profile of tourism day visits 2022
The largest proportion of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to visit friends or relatives (26%). These tourism day visits also accounted for the highest spend (£978 million).
Just over half of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to large cities or towns (51%). These locations also saw the highest level of spend at £2.5 billion.
The West of Scotland was the most visited region in 2022, accounting for 44% of tourism day visits and 41% of spend.
Residents of Scotland generated the highest volume of tourism day visits and spend in Scotland. This accounted for 78% of tourism day visits taken.
Families accounted for the highest proportion of tourism day visits (49%) and spend (41%) in Scotland.
Great Britain Day Visits Survey 2022
Published June 2023
Life stage definitions updated November 2023
3. Executive summary 2021
Data collection in 2021 (and 2020) was disrupted due to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19). Data is not available for January to March 2021 due to restrictions on travel during this period.
A report is available to download with detail on day visit performance in Scotland between April and December 2021.
Volume and spend on day visits 2021
Great Britain residents took 192.8 million leisure day visits lasting over three hours in Scotland between April and December 2021. £5.7 billion was spent during these visits.
29% of leisure day visits taken in Scotland between April and December 2021 were tourism day visits. There were 55.1 million tourism day visits taken with an associated spend of £2.4 billion.
Headline Report - Great Britain Day Visits Survey April to December 2021 (revised)
Published June 2023
4. Definitions and methodology
The producers of the domestic tourist statistics (VisitScotland, Visit Wales and VisitEngland) work closely with the appointed research agency on the statistical processing and quality management of the survey. Detailed technical reports are available on request.
Definitions
| Term | Definition |
| Three hours or more leisure day visits | These are visits by adults and accompanied children that lasted for three or more hours. This includes travel time, to undertake one or more eligible leisure activities. |
| Tourism day visits | These are a subset of three hours or more leisure day visits. To qualify as a tourism day visit, they must meet the additional criteria. They must have undertaken them less often than once a week and must include a visit to a place outside of the local authority where the visit started. |
Methodology
The Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) is a national consumer survey. It measures the volume and value of domestic day visits taken by residents in Great Britain.
Data is gathered via an online survey. Results are weighted to provide an nationally representative estimation of day visit volume and value. Further detail on methodology can be found in the latest background and quality report to download on this page.
In 2019, the producers of the domestic tourist statistics undertook a review of the requirements and methods for producing the statistics. This was to help future-proof the data collection methods.
Results published from April 2021 onwards are not directly comparable with data published for 2019 and previous years because:
- statistics from 2021 onwards are based on a new combined survey
- changes in survey methodology introduced in 2021, together with the interruption in data collection due to coronavirus (COVID-19)
The target annual sample size for the Great Britain Day Visits Survey is 35,000 completed interviews for Great Britain.
Great Britain Day Visits Survey 2023 - background and quality report
Published
5. Official statistics and partners
The Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) is a national consumer survey. It's produced in adherence with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2022). This code is produced by the Office for Statistics Regulation.
VisitScotland jointly sponsors the survey with our partners, VisitEngland and Visit Wales.
Read the Code of Practice for Official Statistics on code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk.