Domestic overnight tourism

During the second quarter of 2025, residents of Great Britain took 2.2 million overnight trips in Scotland, with 6.2 million nights and £747 million spend. When comparing to the same quarter in 2024, there was slight decrease in trips (-2%) and nights (-2%), and a 5% increase in spend.

The average duration of Scotland trips during the second quarter of 2025 was 2.8 nights with an average spend per night of £120 and average spend per trip of £339. When compared with the second quarter of 2024, the average length of stay remained the same, however average spend per trip had increased by 6% and average spend per night had increased by 4%.

Looking at the first six months (half) of 2025, there were 4.4 million overnight trips. 12.3 million nights, and £1.5 billion in visitor spend by residents of Great Britain in Scotland. Trip volume was stable (0% change in overnight trips), when compared with the same period in 2024. Nights (+4%) and spend (+23%) both grew year-on-year.  

The most common purpose of domestic overnight trips in Scotland, during the first half of 2025, was "holidays" (32% of trips), closely followed by "visiting friends or relatives" (31% of trips). Holiday trips produced the highest proportion of nights (34%) and spend (33%) during this period. 

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 Great Britain trips in 2024 included an overnight stay in Scotland, with the share of total Great Britain  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%).

5. 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 Great Britain 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)

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.