Inbound visits and spend: trends by UK town
Released on:
26 May 2023
Next release:
to be confirmed
For further information, please contact [email protected].
Report highlights
In 2022, there were fewer overnight visits to UK towns by inbound visitors than in 2019.
The top five most-visited UK towns (for overnight visits by inbound visitors) were:
London
Edinburgh
Manchester
Birmingham
Liverpool
2022 2021 2019 Rank
Town/city
Visits
(000s)Town/city
Visits
(000s)Town/city
Visits
(000s)1
London
16,118
London
2,723
London
21,713
2
Edinburgh
1,796
Manchester
306
Edinburgh
2,206
3
Manchester
1,230
Birmingham
205
Manchester
1,661
4
Birmingham
803
Edinburgh
199
Birmingham
1,112
5
Liverpool
680
Liverpool
139
Liverpool
845
6 Glasgow 618 Glasgow 116 Glasgow 771 7 Bristol 455 Bristol 106 Brighton/Hove 647 8 Cambridge 440 Cambridge 85 Bristol 636 9 Oxford 425 Oxford 73 Oxford 581 10 Brighton/Hove 339 Brighton 70 Cambridge 462 11 Leeds 289 Leeds 53 Bath 401 12 Bath 273 Newcastle 53 Cardiff 382 13 Newcastle 248 Southampton 47 Leeds 338 14 Cardiff 204 Leicester 47 York 297 15 Southampton 194 Nottingham 43 Newcastle 282 16 York 193 Luton 38 Inverness 275 17 Nottingham 189 Cardiff 37 Stratford-upon-Avon 271 18 Leicester 180 Chester 35 Nottingham 245 19 Luton 165 Bath 33 Coventry 245 20 Inverness 165 Reading 33 Reading 237 Please note that figures are based on small sample sizes for all cities with the exception of London and should therefore be treated with caution.
View the latest report
Top Towns Historical 1999 - 2022.xlsx
See the top ranking towns in the UK by the volume of visits received by inbound tourists
Detailed towns data 2009 - 2022.xlsx
Find out how many visitors went to different towns and cities in the UK and which inbound markets they came from. You can also explore the data by journey purpose and quarter.
Top destinations for day trips & characteristics of day trippers (1).pdf
IPS data for towns and cities typically measures overnight visits. However, this report looks at where inbound visitors to the UK went on day trips, based on a sponsored question in 2016.
About the survey
The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It covers all major air, sea and tunnel ports, providing detailed information on the numbers and types of visits made by people travelling to and from the UK.
From January to June 2022, the ONS was unable to restart interviewing at Eurotunnel due to COVID-19 restrictions, so data for those travelling via this port is excluded for this time period. Interviewing at Eurostar was not affected by COVID-19 restrictions during this period. The ONS restarted IPS interviews at all ports from July 2022.
Related resources
- Explore the latest quarterly data at the total level and by region.
- See the latest full annual dataset at the total level and by region.
- Take a look at the latest inbound tourism forecast.
