VisitBritain

Inbound visits and spend: quarterly, UK

See the latest quarterly UK level estimates of the number of visits to the UK, total spend by inbound visitors and the number of nights spent in the UK, based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS) released by the Office of National Statistics.

Released on:

18 October 2024

Next release:

To be confirmed

For further information, please contact:

[email protected]

Report highlights

  • Provisional data shows from April to June 2024 (Q2), there were 10.8m inbound visits to Great Britain, up 4% vs Q2 2019 and up 9% vs Q2 2023. A slight slowdown in growth can be seen in Q2 vs Q1 when comparing to 2023 (9% vs 14%). Estimates for the first half of 2024 (Jan-Jun) shows visits at 19.5m, up 4% vs 2019 and up 11% vs 2023.
  • Visitors spent £7.9bn in Q2, up 15% vs Q2 2019 and level with Q2 2023. Over the first 6 months of the year, visitors spent £13.4bn, up 15% vs 2019 and down 1% vs 2023.
  • Nights totalled at 134.8m over the first half of the year (with a Q2 record), up 12% vs 2019 and up 5% vs 2023.

2024 results are at the GB level, i.e. the results exclude inbound visits to Northern Ireland due to the changes in the way Northern Ireland data is being collected in 2024. Comparisons are still being made to UK level data in 2019 and 2023, as the Northern Ireland inbound visits make up a very small proportion and have a marginal impact on the overall inbound data.

View the GB nations and regions summary for Q2.

View the latest report

PDF

IPS Total GB Summary Q2 2024 (Published 18 October 2024)

Access the provisional estimates for Q2 2024 in our summary report which covers the headlines and distribution by journey purpose, global regions and selected markets.

Download (594.6 KB)

IPS Total UK pivot tables 2019-Q2 2024 (Published 18 October 2024)

Download the data in Excel and explore the detail in the pre-built pivot tables.

Download (11.02 MB)

Explore the Total UK inbound data in full

Use our visualisations to see this data in greater depth and clarity. Filter by season, inbound market, purpose, mode, trip duration and nationality. 

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.

  • The ONS are undertaking a QA review so historical data may be subject to marginal change - see ONS website for more information.
  • 2024 data only covers inbound visits to Great Britain, as opposed to the United Kingdom which is usually reported, therefore inbound visits for Northern Ireland are not available in this publication. This is due to the changes in the way Northern Ireland data is being collected in 2024. UK level data will be available in the annual 2024 publication in May 2025.
  • There is only a marginal impact on the comparability of 2024 data vs previous years as the Northern Ireland data makes up a very small percentage of overall visits. Therefore, 2024 GB level data is still being compared to 2019 and 2023 UK level data.

Please see About IPS for further information and the ONS.

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