Visit Scotland | Alba

Overview

  • The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey. It measures the volume and value of domestic overnight tourism trips taken by residents of Great Britain. 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 following data tracks the volume and value of domestic overnight tourism trips by British residents in Great Britain.
  • The statistics from 2021 onwards are based on a new combined online survey. This one replaces the separate Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) and Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) which ran until the end of 2019.
  • The survey is jointly sponsored by VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales. The survey is currently undertaken by independent research agency, BMG.
  • The latest statistical release contains annual estimates for 2023. This series is subject to a methodological review. Following this review, estimates published in this release will change. Please use caution in interpreting or using the estimates published. Further information is available on this page within the "definitions and methodology" section.

In this article:

1. Executive summary 2023

12.6 million

overnight trips in Scotland by GB residents in 2023

34.6 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, 2023

In 2023, Great Britain residents took 12.6 million overnight trips in Scotland with 34.6 million nights and £3.2 billion spent overall. When compared with 2022, volume of domestic trips and nights and value of spend was lower in 2023.​

11% of all GB trips included an overnight stay in Scotland, with the share of total GB nights and spend at 10%.

The average duration of Scotland trips during the reporting period was 2.7 nights with an average spend per trip of £251.

Quarter three of 2023 (July to September) had the highest number of trips at 3.3 million. This quarter also had the most nights spent in Scotland (11.1 million), and the highest level of spend (£1.0 billion).

Holiday trips made up the largest proportion of overnight trips taken in Scotland in 2023. It accounted for just over a third of total trips, 42% of total nights and 41% of spend.

Great Britain Tourism Survey: Quarter 4 and full year 2023

Published April 2024

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Great Britain Tourism Survey: Quarter 3 2023

Published February 2024

Download (6Mb)

Great Britain Tourism Survey: Quarter 2 2023

Published October 2023

Updated February 2024

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Great Britain Tourism Survey: Quarter 1 2023

Published September 2023

Life stage definitions updated November 2023

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2. Executive summary 2022

13.5 million

overnight trips in Scotland by GB residents in 2022

40.9 million

nights in Scotland by GB residents in 2022

£3.4 billion

total overnight spend in Scotland by GB residents in 2022

Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey, 2022

In 2022, Great Britain residents took 13.5 million overnight trips in Scotland with 40.9 million nights and £3.4 billion spent overall. These estimates are based on a sample of 1,537 trips.

36% of overnight trips to Scotland during this period were holidays. 30% visits to friends or relatives. 19% were for "other" purposes. 9% were business trips.

11% of all GB trips included an overnight stay in Scotland, with the share of total GB nights also at 11% and the share of spend at 10%.

Quarter three (July to September) and quarter four (October to December) had the highest number of trips at 3.6 million and 3.8 million, respectively. The third quarter had the most nights spent in Scotland (12.1 million), whereas the final quarter of the year had the highest level of spend (£999 million).

The average duration of Scotland trips during the reporting period was 3.0 nights with an average spend per trip of £253.

Great Britain Tourism Survey 2022

Published September 2023

Life stage definitions updated November 2023, purpose of trip figures updated December 2023

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3. Executive summary 2021 (April - December)

Between April and December 2021, Great Britain residents took 9.8 million overnight trips in Scotland with 33.4 million nights and £2.2 billion spent overall. These estimates are based on a sample of 1,228 trips.

42% of overnight trips to Scotland during this period were holidays. 33% were visits to friends or relatives. 12% were for "other" purposes. 8% were business trips.

11% of all GB trips included an overnight stay in Scotland, with the share of total GB nights and the share of spend both also at 11%.

There was a gradual increase in overnight trips taken in Scotland from April 2021 onwards. This rose to a peak in the third quarter (July-September) with 4.7 million trips, 16.4 million nights and spend of £1.1 billion.

The average duration of Scotland trips during the reporting period was 3.4 nights with an average spend per trip of £225.

Great Britain Tourism Survey 2021 (April - December) revised

Published September 2023

Life stage definitions updated November 2023

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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

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

  • stayed at least one night in the nations of Great Britain
  • not taken on their trip a frequent basis / 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 what 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 (GBTS) is a national consumer survey. It measures the volume and value of domestic overnight tourism trips taken by residents of Great Britain.

Data is gathered via an online survey. Results are weighted to provide an 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 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.

Domestic tourism statistics - statement on methodological review

Published April 2024

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Great Britain Tourism Survey 2023 - background and quality report

Published April 2024

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5. 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