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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 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. The statistics within this report were revised and re-published on 5 September 2024, following a review of the GBTS methodology. Original reports and data published in April 2024 have now been removed. 
  • A thorough methodological review of the GBTS approach and data processing was concluded in August. The core aim of the review was to reduce volatility in the data and provide an accurate view of trends over time. Further information is available on this page within the "definitions and methodology" section.

In this article:

1. 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, 2023. Updated September 2024.

In 2023, Great Britain residents took 12.4 million overnight trips in Scotland with 35.4 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 2.9 nights with an average spend per trip of £258.

Quarter three of 2023 (July to September) had the highest number of trips at 3.5 million. This quarter also had the most nights spent in Scotland (11.2 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, accounting for a third of total trips, 42% of total nights and 41% of spend.

Please note, these figures were amended on 5 September 2024 due to a methodological review.

Great Britain Tourism Survey 2023: Quarter 4 and full year 2023 (updated)

Published September 2024

Download (5Mb)

2. 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 (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 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.

Domestic tourism statistics - statement on methodological review (updated)

Published September 2024

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Great Britain Tourism Survey 2023 Background Quality Report (updated)

Published September 2024

Download (1,139Kb)

3. 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.

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