UK TOURISM Statistics 2025

In 2024, the UK saw an estimated 41.2 million inbound visits, a 9% increase from 2023 and 1% above pre-pandemic levels. 

Visitors to the UK made an estimated 10.8 million visits and spent an estimated £7.9 billion between April and June 2024.

VisitBritain forecasts 43.4 million inbound visits and £33.7 billion spent in 2025. 

The UK is among the world's top five tourism earners (+40%). 

In 2024, the US leads inbound tourism to the UK.

Indian nationals accounted for 25% of visitor visas granted, with 549,249 visas granted.

Chinese nationals accounted for 24% of visitor visas granted to the UK, which translates to 518,677 individuals.

VisitBritain forecasts the US market to be worth £6.7 billion, with American visitors contributing almost £1 in every £5 of all inbound spending. 

The British Museum was the most visited tourist attraction in the UK in 2024, welcoming over 6.5 million visitors.

In 2024, London was the most popular UK city for inbound visitors. Over half of all visitors to the UK visit London.

London welcomed 10.4 million international visitors between January to June 2024.  

In 2024, an estimated 30 million tourists visited London, including international and domestic visitors.

In the first half of 2024, London welcomed 10.4 million international visitors.

International visitors spent £7.4 billion in London from January to June 2024, a 2% decrease compared to 2023.

In 2023, total spending reached £16.7 billion, reflecting an 18% increase from 2022 (£14.15 billion).

Tourists spent an average of £877 per visit in 2022, representing a 22% increase from the average spend of £696 in 2019.

U.S. tourists visit the UK the most, with 3.03 million visits, followed by France with 1.5 million. 

London was the 2nd highest-ranked city for international arrivals, with only Istanbul surpassing it.

49.9% visited London for a holiday, followed by 28.2% who visited London to see friends and family. 

Business trips also contributed significantly, bringing in 2.4 million visitors.

International visitors spent an estimated £7.9 billion between April and June 2024.

VisitBritain forecasts 43.4 million inbound visits and £33.7 billion spent in 2025. 

In 2025, tourism is projected to contribute £257 billion to the UK economy and support 3.8 million jobs. 

In 2023, tourism directly contributed £58 billion (2.4%) to the UK economy and supported 1.2 million jobs.

The tourism sector is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 3.8%.

42% of overseas visitors came to the UK for a holiday.

34% of visitors came to see friends or relatives.

17% of visitors came for business purposes.

The most popular attraction is the British Museum, attracting 5,820,860 visitors in 2023.

The top 5 cities visited by tourists in 2023 were:

London - 20,277,000 visitors

Edinburgh - 2,324,000 visitors

Manchester - 1,721,000 visitors

Birmingham - 934,000 visitors

Liverpool - 900,000 visitors

The top tourist attraction in the UK is the British Museum in London, closely followed by the Natural History Museum. 

Sightseeing is the 3rd most popular international visitor activity amongst those visiting the UK. 

Guided tours are popular in Scotland, with just under a third of all visitors putting a guided tour on their UK itinerary.

4% of international tourists visited wildlife attractions (including aquariums).

28% of those visiting historical sights visited castles/historic houses and religious buildings. 

Over 50% of all inbound visitors to Scotland included a castle or historic house on their itinerary.

63% of international tourists looking to experience 'city life' dined in restaurants.

55% of international tourists looking to experience 'city life' went shopping.

41% of international tourists looking to experience 'city life' experienced a traditional pub.

10% of all visits to the UK included a visit to a coast or beach; this rises to 34% amongst those visiting Wales.

Nearly a third of all visits to the South West included at least one stop in the countryside or an English village.

7% of all inbound UK visits included a National Park on their itinerary.

This rose to as high as 17% of visits in Scotland and 15% in Wales.

Walking in the countryside is the most popular outdoor pursuit amongst international visitors, featuring on the list for one in five visitors.

In 2024, UK tourism is estimated to support around 4.14 million jobs, a significant increase from the 3.39 million jobs in 2023.

The ONS estimated that tourism directly contributed to 1.2 million jobs in the UK. This was 3.9% of all jobs in the UK in 2023.

Indirectly, the sector's contribution to employment reaches 3.39 million in 2023, with a forecast of 5.21 million by 2034. 

The food and beverage industry employs the highest number of people, contributing to the tourism industry. 

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that the UK travel and tourism sector will create 700,000 jobs over the next decade. 

In 2020 the UK received 11.1 million inbound visitors, who spent £6.2 billion, a decline of 73% in visits and 78% in spending.

This represented a loss to the UK economy of £22.2 billion.

Monthly air passenger arrivals to the UK fell by 98.3% from 6,804,900 in February 2020 to 112,300 in April 2020.

Domestic and international air passenger traffic fell to less than 2% of its February 2020 levels in April 2020.

London saw the largest fall in room occupancy, with just 20% of rooms occupied in July 2020 compared with 90% in the same month in 2019.

Accommodation and travel agency businesses saw the sharpest decline in turnover during the first national lockdown, falling to 9.3% of their February levels in May 2020.

Employment in accommodation fell by 21.5% compared with the same three months of 2019.

Domestic tourist spending dropped to £34 billion in 2020 from £92 billion in 2019.

Visit Britain is forecasting 35.1 million visits in 2023  and £29.5 billion spent (104% of the 2019 level and 14% higher than in 2022).

While international tourist visits haven’t bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, Visit Britain estimates they could come to 86% of the pre-pandemic level in 2023. 

The total contribution of travel and tourism to the UK’s GDP increased by 40% from 2020 to 2023. 

In 2022, there were about 30 million international visits to the UK.

It's forecast that the number of visitors to the UK could reach 35.1 million in 2023.

In 2022, UK tourism’s GDP contribution was £214 billion.

Tourism’s GDP contribution should grow by 3% annually between 2022 and 2032.

The average Briton took 3.6 holidays in 2022.

UK tourists spent around £45 billion abroad in the first three quarters of 2022.

The country most visited by UK residents is Spain.

Tourists spent around £14.2 billion in London in 2022.

There were 15.6 million international visitors in London in 2022.