GBDVS 2021
The statistics from 2021 onwards, below, are based on a new combined online survey that replaces the separate Great Britain Tourism Survey and Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) that ran until the end of 2019. Take a read of the methodology and quality report (PDF, 251.21KB) for more details on the new methodology (including guidance on limitations of comparability with data up until 2019). Find the latest domestic overnight trip data on the GBTS page.
Fieldwork for 2020 and the first 3 months of 2021 was impacted by COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Therefore, the 2021 data on this page only refers to April-December 2021. Data up to the end of 2019 data can be found on the GBDVS archive page.
The results include data for three definitions of leisure day visits: Tourism Day Visits (the standard definition); 3+ hour Leisure Day Visits (the broadest measure); Tourism Day Visits – Activities Core to Tourism (the narrowest measure). Data for Tourism Day Visits is shown below.
Results for all types of day visits can be found in the GBDVS summary report (PDF 2.5MB) focusing on England and Great Britain. Information on domestic overnight trips can be found on the GBTS page.
Headlines
| GB Tourism Day Visits | Q2 2021 (April-June) | Q3 2021 (July-September) | Q4 2021 (October-December) | Q2-Q4 2021 (April-December) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visits (million | 150.6 | 250.8 | 253.0 | 654.4 |
| Spend (£ million) | £4,442 | £10,259 | £10,933 | £25,634 |
In the latter 9 months of 2021 (April-December) British residents took a total of 654 million tourism day visits within Great Britain. The largest proportion of these day visits took place in the third quarter (38%) and fourth quarter of the year (39%). These visitors spent a total of £26 billion in Great Britain throughout these 9 months.
| England Tourism Day Visits | Q2 2021 (April-June) | Q3 2021 (July-September) | Q4 2021 (October-December) | Q2-Q4 2021 (April-December) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visits (million) | 134.9 | 219.1 | 219.9 | 573.9 |
| Spend (£ million) | £3,804 | £8,966 | £8,419 | £21,189 |
There were 574 million tourism day visits to England from April-December 2021 with visitors spending £21 billion during this period.
Distribution by nation
| GB/Nation (April-December) | Visits (million) | 2021 Share of Trips | Spend (£ million) | 2021 Share of Spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB | 654.4 | £25,634 | ||
| England | 573.9 | 88% | £21,189 | 83% |
| Scotland | 60.4 | 9% | £3,055 | 12% |
| Wales | 38.4 | 6% | £1,390 | 5% |
In the nine months to December 2021, there were 654 million tourism day visits within Great Britain by GB residents. England was the most popular destination with an 88% share of trips (574 million visits).
England’s share of the total GB tourism day visit spend in 2021 (for which we have data) was 83% which equates to £21 billion in the final 9 months of 2021.
Detailed results for Scotland and Wales are published on their websites; VisitScotland and Visit Wales.
Distribution by English region
| Q2-Q4 2021 (April-December) | Visits (million) | Spend (£ million) |
|---|---|---|
| England (Total) | 573.9 | £21,189 |
| London | 86.4 | £4,055 |
| Rest of England | 475.2 | £16,806 |
| North East | 15.7 | £552 |
| North West | 101.6 | £2,959 |
| Yorkshire & the Humber | 40.2 | £2,114 |
| West Midlands | 55.6 | £2,261 |
| East Midlands | 44.4 | £1,287 |
| East of England | 56.2 | £1,751 |
| South West | 69.2 | £2,627 |
| South East | 92.4 | £3,255 |
| Other/Unspecified | 12.3 | £327 |
Across the regions of England, the North West (18%), South East (16%) and London (15%) welcomed the highest shares of domestic tourism day visits in 2021 (April-December).
Of the £21 billion spent by British residents on domestic tourism day visits in England from April-December 2021, the largest amount was spent in quarter 3 (July-September).
By region, tourism day visits to London generated the most spend during the year at £4 billion.
Please download the GBDVS 2021 report (PDF 2.5MB) for further details on trip characteristics.
