The Office for National Statistics (ONS) who are responsible for the International Passenger Survey (IPS) released provisional first estimates for October and November 2022 on the morning of Wednesday 15th March 2023.
Please find a summary of the 2022 monthly data below and in the monthly summary (PDF, 379KB), which also includes a comparison to 2019.
From January to June 2022, the ONS were unable to restart interviewing at Eurotunnel due to COVID-19 restrictions so data for those travelling via this port is excluded for this time period. Interviewing at Eurostar was not affected by Covid-19 restrictions between January and June 2022. The ONS restarted IPS interviews at all ports from July 2022.
Explore the latest annual and quarterly data on the 2022 inbound page.
Visits and spend
| Total | Oct 2022 | % change vs. Oct 2019 | Nov 2022 | % change vs. Nov 2019 | Last 3 months (Sep-Nov 2022) | % change vs. Sep-Nov 2019 | YTD 2022 | % change vs. YTD 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Visits (000) |
3,240 | -13% | 3,180 | 2% | 9,380 | -8% | 27,580 | -23% |
| Spend (£m) | £2,720 | 3% | £2,110 | -4% | £7,460 | 0% | £23,270 | -8% |
Visits: Inbound visits continued to show strong recovery in October and November 2022 with 3.2 million visits in each month respectively. Visits were down 13% in October (vs 2019) and it was a particularly strong November with visits surpassing 2019 levels by 2%. Between January and November 2022, the UK welcomed 27.6 million visitors (77% of 2019 levels).
Spend: Visitors spent a record £2.7bn (in nominal terms) in October 2022 whilst in the UK, up 3% on October 2019. Spend continued to recover well in November 2022 (just shy of the record) with visitors spending £2.1bn, down 4% on November 2019. Spend in the first 11 months of 2022 reached £23.3bn (92% of 2019 levels).
Visits by journey purpose
| Journey Purpose (Visits - 000) | Oct 2022 | % change vs. Oct 2022 | Nov 2022 | % change vs. Nov 2019 | Last 3 months (Sep-Nov 2022) | % change vs. Sep-Nov 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday | 1,250 | -16% | 1,210 | 2% | 3,610 | -9% |
| VFR | 1,070 | -7% | 1,170 | 23% | 3,270 | 8% |
| Business | 570 | -33% | 600 | -25% | 1,740 | -31% |
| Miscellaneous | 350 | 39% | 200 | 11% | 760 | 17% |
Holiday visits continued to account for the largest share of visits in October and November 2022. There were 1.3 million visits in October 2022 and a record 1.2 million visits in November 2022 (2% above Nov 2019). From Jan-Nov 2022, there were 10.8 million holiday visits to the UK.
Visits to friends and relatives continued to show strong recovery, surpassing the 1.0 million mark for the fifth consecutive month. November welcomed a record 1.2 million VFR visits (up 23% on 2019) which narrowed the share gap between VFR and holiday visits for this month (37% vs 38%). In the first 11 months of the year, 10.2 million inbound visitors came to the UK to visit friends and relatives.
Business visits continued to increase in the most recent months but are still the slowest to recover out of any journey purpose. There were 570,000 business visits in October (down 33% on 2019) and 600,000 in November (down 25% on 2019). In 2022 so far, there have been 4.6 million business visits to the UK.
All other visits, under ‘miscellaneous’, which includes study, showed strong growth in October and November (vs 2019). These visits contributed 2.0 million to the total UK inbound market in the 11 months to November 2022.
Visits by global region
| Global Regions (Visits - 000) | Oct 2022 | % change vs. Oct 2022 | Nov 2022 | % change vs. Nov 2019 | Last 3 months (Sep-Nov 2022) | % change vs. Sep-Nov 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Europe | 2,290 | -10% | 2,510 | 14% | 6,630 | -2% |
| EU Total | 2,040 | -11% | 2,320 | 17% | 6,000 | -1% |
| EU 15 | 1,700 | -11% | 1,830 | 16% | 4,860 | -3% |
| Other EU | 340 | -10% | 490 | 21% | 1,140 | 3% |
| Rest of Europe | 250 | 1% | 190 | -18% | 630 | -3% |
| North America | 530 | 16% | 350 | -3% | 1,530 | 20% |
| Rest of World | 410 | -44% | 320 | -42% | 1,210 | -43% |
Europe welcomed 2.3 million visits in October 2022 and a record 2.5 million visits in November 2022. In the medium term (Sep-Nov), visits were just 2% below 2019. EU15 markets accounted for more than half of visits in October and November but it was a particularly strong November for Other EU markets which saw the highest amount of visits across any month on record. Rest of Europe saw October visits above pre-pandemic levels but a weaker November 2022.
Inbound visits from North America continued to surpass pre-pandemic levels in October 2022, reaching a record 530,000 visits whilst visits dipped to 350,000 in November, 3% below pre-pandemic levels. In the last 3 months, visits were one fifth above pre-pandemic levels on average, particularly due to a strong September.
Those visiting from the Rest of World are still recovering at the slowest pace with visits just over half the levels of 2019. There were 410,000 visits in October and 320,000 in November.
Please visit the ONS website for more information.
