United States of America (USA)
United States of America (USA)
Travellers from the USA made 124.1 million outbound visits in 2023, with a total international tourism expenditure of US$150 billion.
In 2023, the UK welcomed a record 5.1 million visits from the USA. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was a record £6.3 billion, with an average spend of £1,222 per visit.
Discover visitor behaviour, travel trade insights, detailed data visualisations for this market – and more. The statistics in this market report are collated from a range of sources such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as sponsored questions and our own research. For further details, see How we source this information.
Visitor characteristics
- New York Tri-State and California generate the most visits, with the two areas representing over a third of all visits from the USA to the UK.
- Almost six-in-ten American holiday visitors are making a repeat visit.
- Holiday visits continue to lead in terms of volume of visits from the American market (52% of visits), setting new records for volume and value, worth £3.7 billion in spend in 2023.
- London is the leading destination for a trip to the UK, with 45% of visitor nights spent there.
Popular activities for this market
Dining in a restaurant.
Sightseeing of famous buildings and monuments.
Going shopping.
Explore the inbound data in full
Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. It includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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What Americans think about Britain
- Americans have a very upbeat perception of the UK as they ranked it sixth overall among 60 nations.
- Americans rate Britain highly for its contemporary culture, historic buildings and monuments, and sports.
- Museums are the cultural product that is most strongly associated with Britain by Americans.
- Words associated with Britain by Americans include ‘educational’, ‘fascinating’, and ‘exciting’.
Global context
Top-level statistics relating to the population, GDP, tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.
| Measure | 2023 |
| International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 150.0 |
| Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 2 |
| Number of outbound overnight visits (m) | 124.1 |
| Most visited destination | Mexico |
| Most visited destination in Western Europe | UK |
Key demographic and economic data
| Measure | 2023 |
| Population (m) | 335 |
| GDP per capita PPP (US$) | 81,743 |
| Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%) | 2.3 |
| Annual GDP growth (%) | 2.5 |
Caring for visitors
- As many will arrive in Britain on overnight flights from the USA, consideration for early check-in at accommodation is always appreciated.
- Americans want to stay in a three-star-plus property, in a good and central location.
- Americans are used to larger rooms than are generally found in Britain, as well as larger beds and having private bathrooms.
- Americans are very comfortable paying for goods and services with a credit card.
The leisure and travel trade
- The travel trade structure in the US is composed of tour operators, online travel agents (OTAs) and frontline retail travel advisors. The market is experiencing growth in the home-based travel advisor community, often affiliated to travel agent consortia.
- Generally allow a minimum lead-time of two years for a product to appear in a fully escorted tour, with a shorter planning cycle of six months to a year for FIT/independent travel.
- Some independent operators will develop a product at various times of the year, as many no longer publish printed brochures.
- Contracting for the following year can commence any time from autumn (around World Travel Market) until June.
Access to Britain from the USA
The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.
| Measure | 2023 |
| Weekly aircraft departures | 937 |
| Weekly seat capacity | 250,559 |
| Airports with direct routes in USA | 34 |
| Airports with direct routes in Britain | 9 |
- Most visitors depart the UK by air (87%), another 12% arrive through the Channel Tunnel (2023).
- In 2023, 34 airports in the USA were connected to the UK via direct flights, while London Heathrow had 85% of seat capacity from the USA to the UK.
- Following the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled seat capacity on non-stop flights from the US to the UK has recovered to 97% of 2019 levels in 2023.
- Departing visitors from the US travelling home by air are charged £88 in Air Passenger Duty if travelling in economy class.
Further resources
USA_Market Snapshot.pdf
USA Market Snapshot
Where visitors from the US to the UK reside in their own country.xlsx
Where visitors from the US to the UK reside in their own country
USA Market and Trade Profile.pdf
Explore the top event companies and media in the USA, and our top business tips.
USA Aviation Profile.pdf
USA Aviation Profile
USA Experience Seekers Pen Portrait.pdf
USA Experience Seeker Pen Portrait
USA COVID-19 Travel Sentiment
USA COVID-19 Travel Sentiment
North American LGBTQ travel to Britain
North American LGBTQ travel to Britain
The international travel behaviour and perceptions of Britain among international travellers from California and the New York Tri-State
The international travel behaviour and perceptions of Britain among international travellers from California and the New York Tri-State
The role of social media in the context of overseas holidays from the USA
The role of social media in the context of overseas holidays from the USA
How we source this information
We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of the data comes from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS.
Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how the data is collected and analysed.
