Leisure and tourism

Tourism to the UK, and UK residents travelling abroad, reasons for travel and money spent. The statistics on UK residents travelling abroad are an informal indicator of living standards.

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Overseas travel and tourism: October and November 2022 provisional results

What's in the bulletin?

  • Visits to the UK increased from 3.0 million in September 2022 to 3.2 million in October 2022 and remained at 3.2 million in November 2022.
  • Spending by overseas residents visiting the UK rose from £2.6 billion in September 2022 to £2.7 billion in October 2022; spending decreased in November 2022 to £2.1 billion.
  • UK residents' visits overseas fell from 8.4 million in September 2022 to 7.2 million in October 2022; visits fell further in November 2022 to 4.4 million.
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Overseas travel and tourism, provisional: July to September 2022

What's in the bulletin?

  • Overseas residents made 10.0 million visits to the UK in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2022; this was much higher than in Quarter 3 2021, when only 2.0 million visits were made.
  • Overseas residents spent £9.1 billion on their visits to the UK in Quarter 3 2022, an increase of £7.3 billion compared with visits in Quarter 3 2021.
  • UK residents made 24.9 million visits abroad in Quarter 3 2022; this compares with 8.1 million visits in Quarter 3 2021.
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Attitudes towards COVID-19 among passengers arriving into the UK

Monthly figures on the attitudes of UK and overseas residents arriving in the UK towards coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions and guidance, and the proportion who had been vaccinated, using unweighted results from the International Passenger Survey for the period covering October 2021 to March 2022 (Experimental Statistics).

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Datasets related to Leisure and tourism

  • Overseas travel and tourism, monthly

    Seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted estimates of completed international visits to and from the UK.

  • Overseas travel and tourism time series

    Seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted estimates of completed international visits to and from the UK. Based on International Passenger Survey data.

  • Overseas travel and tourism, quarterly

    Seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted estimates of completed international visits to and from the UK and earnings and expenditure associated with these visits.

  • Travelpac: travel to and from the UK

    Quarterly data on travel to and from the UK, taken from the International Passenger Survey (IPS). Includes detail on age and sex of travellers, purpose and length of trip, and spending. These data are in a form suitable for small businesses and students.

  • Travel trends estimates: overseas residents in the UK

    Annual estimates on visits and spending in the UK by overseas residents, by purpose and region of visit. New methods were introduced for producing the 2021 estimates. The datasets presented for 2021, and for 2017 to 2021, contain estimates produced using the new method. The other datasets presented on this page were produced using the previous method and are now superseded.

  • Travel trends estimates: UK residents‘ visits abroad

    Annual estimates on visits and spending by UK residents abroad, by purpose and region of visit. New methods were introduced for producing the 2021 estimates. The datasets presented for 2021, and for 2017 to 2021, contain estimates produced using the new method. The other datasets presented on this page were produced using the previous method and are now superseded.

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Publications related to Leisure and tourism

Statistical bulletins

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Articles

  • Travel trends

    Visits to the UK by overseas residents, visits abroad by UK residents and spending estimates by travellers.

  • Young people expect high pay and leisure time from self-employment

    As the number of young people working for themselves continues to rise, analysis reveals a gap between expectations and reality.

  • Overseas travel and tourism, provisional

    Quarterly estimates of visits to the UK by overseas residents, air visits abroad by UK residents and spending estimates by travellers, using the International Passenger Survey and administrative sources of passenger travel covering April to December 2020.

  • Holidays in the 1990s and now

    Since the 1990s, we're going on more holidays... but they're shorter than they used to be. Explore three decades of changing tourism habits.

  • Leisure time in the UK

    An article looking at how much leisure time people in the UK take, and how that differs according to various aspects such as age or gender. This analysis gives an insight into the nation’s work-life balance, and also how much people enjoy their leisure time.

  • Brits spend 29% of their leisure time alone

    The Great Get Together, inspired by Jo Cox, aims to bring people across the UK together this weekend. ONS analysis shows that we spend most of our free time with others, but 100 minutes of our free time alone every day.

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Methodology related to Leisure and tourism

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