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Overview

  • The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey which 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 overnight trips by domestic visitors to Scotland.
  • This study provides information about trip and visitor characteristics. It covers all aspects of tourism such as holidays, visits to friends and relatives and trips for business and other purposes.
  • 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 concluded in August 2024. Further information is available on this page within the "definitions and methodology" section.
  • The latest statistical release contains estimates for the calendar year 2024 (January to December).

In this article:

1. Executive summary 2024

10.6 million

overnight trips in Scotland by GB residents

29.5 million

nights in Scotland by GB residents

£3.3 billion

total overnight spend in Scotland by GB residents

Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey, overnight trips (2024)

During 2024, residents of Great Britain took 10.6 million overnight trips in Scotland, with 29.5 million nights and £3.3 billion spend. When comparing to 2023, trips and nights had both decreased whereas value of spend had slightly increased.

10% of all GB trips in 2024 included an overnight stay in Scotland, with the share of total GB nights and spend also at 10%.

Volume of domestic overnight trips steadily increased in 2024, peaking in the final quarter with 3.2 million trips. However, nights and spend both peaked in quarter three of 2024, aligning with traditional seasonal pattern of tourism.

The average duration of Scotland trips during 2024 was 2.8 nights with an average spend per night of £113 and average spend per trip of £315.

While the highest average spend per night was generated by trips taken in quarter four of the year, quarter three saw longer stays and higher spend per trip on average.

Visits to friends and relatives made up the largest proportion of domestic overnight trips in Scotland during 2024, accounting for 34% of trips. Holiday trips produced the highest proportion of nights and spend (both at 42%).

Domestic tourism update: overnight trips 2024

Published April 2025

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3. Executive summary 2023

12.4 million

overnight trips in Scotland by GB residents in 2023

35.4 million

nights in Scotland by GB residents in 2023

£3.2 billion

total overnight spend in Scotland by GB residents in 2023

Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey, overnight trips (2023). Updated September 2024. Please note, these figures were amended on 5 September 2024 due to a methodological review.

Great Britain Tourism Survey annual report 2023

Published February 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.

Definitions

To qualify as an eligible GB domestic overnight trip, visitors had to have:

  • stayed at least one night in the nations of Great Britain
  • take trips on an infrequent basis (i.e. less than once a week)
Term Definition
GB domestic overnight holiday trips The main purpose of the trip was for holiday, pleasure or leisure.
GB domestic overnight "visiting friends and relatives" trips The main purpose of the trip was for visiting friends and relatives, including such trips that visitors combined with a holiday.
GB domestic overnight business trips The main purpose of the trip was for business.
GB domestic overnight miscellaneous trips The main purpose of the trip was for any other type of trip taken not covered by the previous classifications. These include: personal events, public events, study, medical, religious reasons, any overnight stays in the UK as part of any overseas trip.
Volume An estimate of the grossed-up number of overnight trips if the sample would be representative of the whole GB population.
Value An estimate of the total expenditure if the sample would be representative of the whole GB population.
Bednights An estimate of the grossed-up number of nights spent on overnight trips if the sample would be representative of the whole GB population​.

These criteria and definitions have been revised to align with agreed international standards. This impacts on comparability of the domestic overnight tourism estimates from 2021 onwards from those published in 2019 and previous years.

Methodology

The Great Britain Tourism Survey is a national consumer survey conducted online with residents of Great Britain on their trip taking activity. 

Data is gathered via an online survey. Results are weighted to provide a nationally representative estimation of overnight tourism 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 were introduced in 2021, together with the interruption in data collection due to coronavirus (COVID-19) 

The target annual sample size for GBTS is 60,000 completed interviews for Great Britain. 

Great Britain Tourism Survey: overnight trips 2024 - background quality report

Published March 2025

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4. Official statistics and partners

The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey. It's produced as per the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2022) as published by the Office for Statistics Regulation.

VisitScotland jointly sponsors the survey with our partners VisitEngland and Visit Wales.

Read more about the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2022) on gov.uk.

Related links

Domestic day visits

Read the latest statistics on Scotland's domestic day visits performance. This includes number of visits and spend.