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Overview

  • The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey that includes two core domestic modules, overnight trips and day visits. It measures the volume and value of domestic tourism by residents of Great Britain. This page describes the statistics for day visits by domestic visitors in Scotland.
  • The survey is jointly sponsored by VisitEngland, VisitScotland, and Visit Wales. The survey is currently undertaken by independent research agency, BMG.
  • A thorough methodological review of the Great Britain Tourism Survey approach and data processing was conducted, concluding in February 2025. Further information is available on this page within the "definitions and methodology" section.
  • The latest statistical release contains estimates for the first quarter of 2025 (January to March).

In this article:

1. Executive summary 2025 (January to March)

16.5 million

tourism day visits in Scotland by Great Britain residents

£884 million

total tourism day visit spend in Scotland by Great Britain residents

£53

average daily spend per tourism day visit in Scotland

Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey, day visits (2025 quarter one)

During the first quarter of 2025, Great Britain residents took 56.6 million leisure day visits lasting over three hours in Scotland with £2.0 billion spent during these visits. 

29% of leisure day visits taken in Scotland were tourism day visits. There were 16.5 million tourism day visits taken with an associated spend of £884 million.

When compared with the same quarter in 2024, the volume and value of tourism day visits in Scotland had decreased (-11% for visits and -15% for spend).

The average spend for tourism day visits in Scotland also decreased from £56 in the first quarter of 2024 to £53 in the first quarter of 2025. This average spend was slightly higher than that of tourism day visits taken throughout Great Britain (£50).

The largest proportion of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to visit friends or relatives (24%). This activity also generated the highest value of associated spend for the quarter at £203 million.

The main location for over half of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were cities or large towns (60%). These locations also saw the highest level of spend at £593 million.

Great Britain Tourism Survey: day visits January - March 2025

Published June 2025

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2. Executive summary 2024

76.8 million

tourism day visits in Scotland by Great Britain residents

£4.0 billion

total tourism day visit spend in Scotland by Great Britain residents

£52

average daily spend per tourism day visit in Scotland

Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey, day visits (2024)

Great Britain residents took 251.4 million leisure day visits  lasting over three hours in Scotland with £9.1 billion spent during these visits in 2024. 31% of leisure day visits taken in Scotland were tourism day visits. There were 76.8 million tourism day visits taken with an associated spend of £4.0 billion.

When compared with 2023, tourism day visits in Scotland had decreased, whereas associated spend had slightly increased (+3%). The average spend for tourism day visits in Scotland increased from £43 in 2023 to £52 in 2024. This average spend was similar to that of tourism day visits taken throughout Great Britain (£53).

Quarter 4 (October to December) of 2024 had the highest total tourism day visits at 20.5 million. This quarter also produced the highest level of spend, with a total of £1.3 billion spent on tourism day visits.

The largest proportion of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to visit friends or relatives (26%). The activity undertaken on tourism day visits that had the highest level of spend was food and drink, a night out, or speciality shopping (£825 million).

The main location for over half of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were cities or large towns (56%). These locations also saw the highest level of spend at £2.6 billion.

Great Britain Tourism Survey: day visits annual report 2024

Published June 2025

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3. 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.

Methodology

The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey. It includes two core domestic modules, overnight trips and day visits. 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 a 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 Tourism Survey day visits module is 35,000 completed interviews for Great Britain. 

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.

Great Britain Tourism Survey: day visits 2024 - background quality report

Published March 2025

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4. 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.

Other things you might like

Domestic overnight tourism

Read about the performance of overnight domestic tourism in Scotland. This page covers trips, nights stayed and spend.