VisitBritain

Inbound visits and spend: quarterly, regional

See the latest annual estimates of the number of visits to the UK and total spend by inbound visitors, by UK region, 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

Visits (year-to-date):

  • Year-to-date 2024 inbound visits to London and Rest of England increased when compared to 2019 and 2023, with record visits to the Rest of England. 
  • In Jan-Jun 2024, the majority of England regions showed an increase in visits vs 2019 levels, with the exception of West Midlands and South East, and vs 2023 levels, apart from East of England.
  • Inbound visits to Scotland from Jan-Jun 2024 reached a new record.
  • Visits to Wales continued to grow and showed an increase vs 2023 but were still slightly behind 2019 levels.

Spend (year-to-date and in nominal terms, when not adjusted for inflation):

  • In Jan-Jun 2024, spend in London was up vs 2019 but down slightly vs 2023 (due to a weaker Q2) whilst spend to the Rest of England surpassed both comparison years with a new record.
  • For spend across the same time period, all England regions showed growth vs 2019. When comparing to 2023, 4 regions (outside London) saw a decrease in spend: Yorkshire, East of England, East Midlands and North East. 
  • Scotland also led inbound spend recovery with record spend in Jan-Jun 2024.
  • In Jan-Jun 2024, inbound spend in Wales was above 2019 and 2023 levels.

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 total summary for Q2.

View the latest report

PDF

IPS Total Nations and Regions Summary Q1 and Q2 2024 (Published 18 October 2024)

Access the provisional estimates for 2024 so far in our summary report which covers the headlines and distribution by UK nation and English regions

Download (375.24 KB)

IPS Nations and Regions 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 (7.95 MB)

Explore the Nations & Regions inbound data in full

Use our visualisations to see this data in greater depth and clarity. Filter by inbound market, UK nation, UK region, season and purpose. 

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.

Related resources