Domestic tourism statistics by region and year. All figures come from the Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) and represent 3-year annual averages due to small sample sizes on regional level.
Note: Due to ongoing Covid-19 related travel restrictions meaning data collection has had to be suspended and a planned update to the survey methodology during 2020, a temporary gap in the reporting of the domestic tourism monitors has resulted. This disruption means the National Tourist Boards will be unable to publish detailed results from the GB Tourism Study (GBTS) and Day Visitor Study (GBDVS) for 2020 or Q1 2021 and any data from this period will only be published after a thorough review to ensure they meet necessary quality standards. We shall resume fieldwork as soon as domestic travel guidelines ease and anticipate being in a position to commence the delivery of Q2 2021 summary data at some stage during Q3 2021 (barring any unforeseen circumstances).
The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) provides visitor figures for residents of Scotland, England and Wales. The survey is conducted through face-to-face interviews and is jointly commissioned by VisitScotland, VisitEngland and VisitWales. Welsh data is not presented here, due to small sample sizes. More information about the survey can be found on the VisitScotland web page.
This data contains no sensitive, personal information.
The information contained in this report has been published in good faith on the basis of information supplied to VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales. VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales cannot guarantee the accuracy of information in this report and accept no responsibility for any error or misrepresentation. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or other damage caused by reliance on the information contained in this report or for any other reason is hereby excluded.
This is a National Statistics Publication. National Statistics status means that the official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value. They comply with the Code of Practice for statistics and are awarded National Statistics status following an assessment by the UK Statistics Authority’s regulatory arm. The Authority considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.
While results from these surveys can give good precision at a national level, at regional level the results can be less reliable. This is because data at regional level can be based on a relatively small sample size. This incurs a larger margin of statistical error reducing data reliability. Therefore results should be treated with caution. To reduce error margins, 3-year average figures have been calculated to provide a larger sample size. It is good practice to use the data in conjunction with other indicators, for example visitor numbers at attractions and accommodation occupancy levels, to provide a better understanding of tourism in Scotland’s regions.
Note that visitor numbers for regions may add up to more than the national total as the same person may spend nights in more than one location during their visit. For example a visitor to the Highlands may also spend a night in Edinburgh. Numbers of visits therefore cannot be summed across regions.
For expenditure, nights and visits, there is a value that cannot be attributed to any specific council area but which is included in the national total. Thus, the values given for Scotland could differ from the sum of Council Areas.
Due to a change in methodology between 2015 and 2016, pre-2015 and post-2015 data is not directly comparable. For more information please contact research@visitscotland.com.
More domestic visitor figures can be found on the VisitScotland web page.
GBTS is a survey covering overnight trips taken for any purpose, including holidays, business, or visiting friends and relatives. It measures the volume and value of overnight domestic tourism trips taken by Great Britain residents and provides detailed information about trip and visitor characteristics.
Interviewing is carried out face-to-face every week of the year. Annually, some 100,000 respondents are contacted, and any who have returned from an overnight trip within the past four weeks are asked to describe the details of that trip.
For more information, visit the VisitBritain web page.
This data is updated annually.
This data is not routinely revised. Any revisions in exceptional circumstances will be carried out in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
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