Archive - Discover England Fund research

The following reports have been produced to summarise relevant research for individual large-scale DEF projects.

Please Note:These reports were published throughout 2018. In 2020, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revised the International Passenger Survey (IPS) data for 2009-2018 and released new 2019 data, therefore the IPS data in these reports is outdated. Please contact us at VB/VEResearch@visitbritain.org if you have any questions.

Make Great Memories in England's National Parks: Report (PDF, 6.8MB)

Discover England's Great Walking Trails: Report (PDF, 6.7MB)

England's Coast: Report (PDF, 8.6MB)

Growing Manchester as an International Gateway to the North: Report (PDF, 6.5MB)

The Collection, a journey through 2000 years of English history: Report (PDF, 7.5MB)

London and Cultural England: Report (PDF, 14.4MB)

The Waterways of England: Report (PDF, 9.1MB)

The Gourmet Garden Trails of England: Report (PDF, 6.8MB)

Cycle England: Report (PDF, 6.7MB)

Urban Collection and Renaissance Collection: Report (PDF, 9.8MB)

East of England Touring Route: Report (PDF, 5.4MB)

Great West Way: Report (PDF, 8.5MB)

Please see our Discover England Fund Years 2 and 3 Large-Scale Projects webpage for more detail on the individual projects.

We have developed a series of reports to provide a deeper understanding of visitor behaviour as it relates to product development, including regional profiling, information sources, decision-making and activities undertaken.

Please Note:These reports were published throughout 2017-2018. In 2020, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revised the International Passenger Survey (IPS) data for 2009-2018 and released new 2019 data, therefore the IPS data in these reports is outdated. Please contact us at VB/VEResearch@visitbritain.org if you have any questions.

Re-Analysis of IPS and other data

These reports bring together data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and findings from other research carried out in recent years to give insights into a series of topic areas

1. A summary of insights on overseas visitors to England's regions.

This report looks at the volume, value, profile and travel motivations for key international markets, with results shown for each of the nine regions of England.

Download the summary report here in  PowerPoint (PPT, 15MB) or PDF (2.4MB).

2. Understanding participation in leisure activities. 

This report provides information about motivations for travel, and interest and participation in different types of leisure activities

Download the activities report here in PowerPoint (PPT, 15MB) or PDF (1.5MB). 

3. England’s Gateways 

This report looks at international traveller profiles and behaviour based on where and how they departed from the country, with information provided by English region, mode of transport and for individual airports and for Eurostar.

Download the gateways report here PowerPoint (PPT, 998KB) or PDF (1004KB)

4. Age groups and Lifestages

This report looks at international traveller profiles and behaviour amongst different age groups. 

Download the age groups and Lifestages report here PowerPoint (PPT, 1288KB) or PDF (1143KB)

5. Multi-Destination Trips

This report looks at the profile of inbound visits which include two or more destinations, both "London plus" trips and trips involving multiple destinations outside the capital. 

Download the multi-destination trips report here PowerPoint (PPT, 1316KB) or PDF (1060KB)

6. Destination Types

This report looks at the profile of inbound visits who stay in England's different types of cities and towns. 

Download the destination type report here PowerPoint (PPT, 966KB) or PDF (949KB)

7. Day Trips

This report looks at the profile of inbound holiday visitors who take day trips from the UK's cities and towns

Download the day trip report here PowerPoint (PPT, 3.5MB) or PDF (1.9MB)

8. Destination Summaries

This report includes summaries on the top 20 holiday destinations in England.

Download the full destination summary report here PowerPoint (PPT, 5.88MB) or PDF (1.6MB)

Individual destination summaries:

Bath PowerPoint (PPT, 530KB) or PDF (413KB)

Birmingham PowerPoint (PPT, 500KB) or PDF (411KB)

Bournemouth PowerPoint (PPT, 446KB) or PDF (384KB)

Brighton PowerPoint (PPT, 482KB) or PDF (408KB)

Bristol PowerPoint (PPT, 564KB) or PDF (498KB)

Cambridge PowerPoint (PPT, 508KB) or PDF (452KB)

Canterbury PowerPoint (PPT, 577KB) or PDF (459KB)

Eastbourne PowerPoint (PPT, 546KB) or PDF (447KB)

Exeter PowerPoint (PPT, 520KB) or PDF (439KB)

Hastings PowerPoint (PPT, 569KB) or PDF (450KB)

Leeds PowerPoint (PPT, 453KB) or PDF (414KB)

Liverpool PowerPoint (PPT, 463KB) or PDF (390KB)

London PowerPoint (PPT, 530KB) or PDF (424KB)

Manchester PowerPoint (PPT, 452KB) or PDF (397KB)

Newcastle PowerPoint (PPT, 490KB) or PDF (406KB)

Nottingham PowerPoint (PPT, 462KB) or PDF (419KB)

Oxford PowerPoint (PPT, 597KB) or PDF (516KB)

Stratford Upon Avon PowerPoint (PPT, 553KB) or PDF (453KB)

Windsor PowerPoint (PPT, 502KB) or PDF (419KB)

York PowerPoint (PPT, 501KB) or PDF (428KB)

New Research – Decisions and Influences

In spring 2016, VisitBritain commissioned new research in 20 markets to understand the holiday decision-making process. Results from this research are available for three topic areas

Britain and Competitors – a report looking at knowledge of, and interest in Britain compared to its competitive set

Download the Britain and Competitors report here PDF (1343KB)

Researching and Planning a Holiday – a report providing information about motivations, information sources, and timings for the planning process

Download the Researching and Planning report here PDF (1643KB)

Booking a Holiday – this report provides information about booking channels and websites, and also about which trip elements are booked in advance of travel.

Download the Booking a Holiday report here PDF (1392KB)

Full Report – download the full report, with results for all three topic areas here PDF (3796KB)

Please Note:These reports were published throughout 2017-2018. In 2020, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revised the International Passenger Survey (IPS) data for 2009-2018 and released new 2019 data, therefore the IPS data in these reports is outdated. Please contact us at VB/VEResearch@visitbritain.org if you have any questions.

1. Understanding participation in leisure activities in the International Passenger Survey

This report brings together data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and findings from other research carried out in recent years to give insights about motivations for travel, and interest and participation in different types of leisure activities

Download the IPS re-analysis report in PowerPoint (PPT, 15MB) or download the IPS re-analysis report in PDF (1.5MB). 

2. Leisure activities research: Market, Activities and Destination summaries 

As part of the leisure activities research, we have produced a series of market and activities summaries. These summaries provide information about demographic profiles, attitude towards taking a holiday to England, market consideration for each activity and other market profiling insights. The full set of summaries can be downloaded in PDF (1926KB) or the full set of summaries can be downloaded in PPT (2.6MB)

Market summaries: Australia (PDF, 421KB)│China (PDF, 421KB)│France (PDF, 421KB)│Germany (PDF, 421KB)│Italy (PDF, 421KB)│Norway (PDF, 421KB)│Spain (PDF, 421KB)│The Netherlands (PDF, 421KB)│UK (PDF, 421KB)│USA (PDF, 421KB)

Destination summaries: Coastal tourism (PDF, 7.8MB)│Countryside tourism (PDF, 13.8MB)│London & Major cities (PDF, 1.9MB)│Smaller cities & Towns (PDF, 2.9MB) 

Visiting famous / iconic tourist attractions / places activities summaries: Visiting a place / attraction associated with film / TV / literature (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting a theme park (PDF, 217KB)│Seeing world famous or iconic sights and places (PDF, 217KB)│Food and drink tour or attraction e.g. vineyard, brewery… (PDF, 217KB)

Exploring history and heritage activities summaries: Visiting a castle / palace / stately home or historic house (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting a religious building (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting a historic monument (PDF, 217KB)│Attending an event associated with local traditions (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting places linked to my own family history (PDF, 217KB)

Experiencing city life activities summaries: Visiting a museum (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting an art gallery (PDF, 217KB)│Shopping for clothes (PDF, 217KB)│Shopping for locally made products / crafts (PDF, 217KB)│Shopping for luxury or designer products (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting a park / garden (PDF, 217KB)│Having a gourmet meal (PDF, 217KB)│Trying local food and drink specialities (PDF, 217KB)│Having a spa / beauty / wellness treatment (PDF, 217KB)│Experiencing local nightlife e.g. local bars / pubs, clubs … (PDF, 217KB)│Visiting a place / attraction associated with contemporary culture (PDF, 217KB)

Experiencing rural life & scenery activities summaries: Visiting a National Park (PDF, 217KB)│Watching wildlife or birdlife in its natural environment (PDF, 217KB)│Astronomy / star gazing (PDF, 217KB)│Exploring villages / rural areas (PDF, 217KB)

Outdoor leisure pursuits activities summaries: Playing golf (PDF, 217KB)│Sunbathing on the beach / by a pool (PDF, 217KB)│Boating (boat trips, canal boating) (PDF, 217KB)│Exploring an area by E-bike (PDF, 217KB)│Going for a short country or coastal walk around <2 hours (PDF, 217KB)│Going for a long country or coastal walk e.g. half a day+ (PDF, 217KB)

Challenge and / or action activities summaries: Trying an adventure / adrenalin activity (PDF, 217KB)│Doing water sports including sailing, canoeing … (PDF, 217KB)│Cycling or Mountain biking (PDF, 217KB)│Taking part in competitive sports e.g. running, football …. (PDF, 217KB)│Attending English language classes / a course (PDF, 217KB)

Attending cultural / music / sports events activities summaries: Music festival / other festival (PDF, 217KB)│Attending a live sporting event / match (PDF, 217KB)│Attending a live pop concert / gig (PDF, 217KB)│Watching a play / musical (PDF, 217KB)│Attending a classical music concert / opera / ballet (PDF, 217KB)