GBTS 2016 monthly results
December: Commentary of results (PDF, 1451KB) | Commentary of results (PPT, 3374KB)
GBTS 2016 Data
Update 29th September 2017
In 2016, a new data processing platform was introduced to deliver the GBTS survey, and with this new platform, some changes were made to the way that results were calculated for a small number of respondents. This has resulted in a break in the time series reporting for the project.
To enable users to understand the impact of the changes made, we have now re-processed 2015 data using the new 2016 data processing platform. In summary, the effect of these changes at GB level was to increase the estimated number of 2015 trips by 0.6%, the estimated number of bednights by 0.2% and to reduce expenditure by -2.9% compared to the published data.
The 2015 – 16 Comparison Report includes a month by month overview of original and re-processed data for 2015, with both sets of results compared to 2016 data, for trips, bednights and expenditure. This provides users with information about year on year changes calculated using directly comparable data.
When making trend comparisons between 2015 and 2016, users should refer to the re-processed 2015 data (“Dimensions”). For all other purposes (comparisons between 2015 and earlier years, profiles by trip characteristic etc) the originally published 2015 data should continue to be used.
For more detail about the changes made and further guidance about how to interpret results, the 2015-16 Data Processing Changes Explanation document provides a comprehensive overview of the changes made, the reasons for these, and the way they have impacted results reporting.
2016 Domestic Overnight Tourism Performance Summary
In 2016, British residents took 99.3 million overnight trips in England, totalling 288 million nights away from home and expenditure of £18.5 billion,with an average trip length of 2.90 nights.
Overall trends
The number of domestic trips was 4% lower than in 2015.
Trends by trip purpose
Holiday travel
44.7 million holiday trips were taken in England in 2016. The number of holiday trips taken was on par with 2015.
At 29.3 million, short breaks of 1-3 nights account for two-thirds of English holidays by volume. 15.4 million 4+ night holidays were taken.
Business travel
14.1 million overnight business trips were taken in England in 2016. The number of business trips was on par with 2015.
Visiting friends and relatives (VFR)
The number of VFR trips taken declined by 9% in 2016, to 36.9 million.
Further detail about trip profiles and demographic characteristics can be found in our summary tables:
England
England - All Trip Purposes 2016 (PDF, 335KB)
England - All Trip Purposes 2016 (Excel, 32KB)
England - Holidays 2016 (PDF, 341KB)
England - Holidays 2016 (Excel, 32KB)
England - VFR 2016 (PDF, 338KB)
England - VFR 2016 (Excel, 33KB)
England - Business 2016 (PDF, 339KB)
England - Business 2016 (Excel, 33KB)
Great Britain
GB - All Trip Purposes 2016 (PDF, 334KB)
GB - All Trip Purposes 2016 (Excel, 35KB)
Trips to different parts of England in 2016
Each quarter we publish GBTS results for the nine regions, covering the volume and value of domestic overnight trips to different parts of England. This includes quarterly, year-to-date and past 12-month figures.
Most Visited Towns
The Most Visited Towns data is published using three-year averages, listing the most visited English towns by trip numbers and spend - in total, for holiday trips, and for business trips. The most recent data is for the three-year period from 2014-2016.
Most Visited Towns by Trip Purpose 2014-16 (Excel, 32KB)
Local Authorities and other areas
For geographical areas of England (Local Authorities, Counties, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) areas) data is published using three-year averages only. The most recent data is for the three-year period from 2014-2016.
An introduction to this analysis (Word, 269KB) is available HERE
The data is available in Excel as follows:
Master Spreadsheet (Local Authorities, Counties, LEP areas) (Excel, 426KB)
Local Authorities Spreadsheet (Excel, 354KB)
Counties Spreadsheet (Excel, 68KB)
LEP Spreadsheet (Excel, 45KB)
A combined spreadsheet has been produced for Local Authorities including data from both the GBTS survey (domestic overnight trips) and the GBDVS survey (day visits) to create a combined total of all domestic trips to Local Authorities.
Local Authorities combined analysis (domestic overnight and day visits) (Excel, 92KB)
Note: All year on year trends estimates are based on a comparison with a re-processed 2015 data. More detail about this can be found in this explanation document (PDF, 1.3MB).