VisitBritain

Inbound visits and spend: trends by UK town

Find out the top towns for inbound visitors to Britain as well as how many visits they made to UK towns. Data is from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) released by the Office of National Statistics.

Released on:

12 May 2025

Next release:

Summer 2025

For further information, please contact [email protected].

Report highlights

In 2023, the top five most-visited UK towns (for overnight visits by inbound visitors) were: 

  • London 

  • Edinburgh

  • Manchester

  • Birmingham

  • Liverpool

  •  2023 2022 2021 2019 
    RankTown/cityVisits (000s) Town/cityVisits
    (000s)    		Town/cityVisits
    (000s)    		Town/cityVisits
    (000s)
    1London20,277London16,118London2,723London21,713
    2Edinburgh2,324Edinburgh1,796Manchester306Edinburgh2,206
    3Manchester1,721Manchester1,230Birmingham 205Manchester1,661
    4Birmingham934Birmingham 803Edinburgh199Birmingham1,112
    5Liverpool900Liverpool680Liverpool139Liverpool845
    6Glasgow685Glasgow618Glasgow116Glasgow771
    7Bristol569Bristol455Bristol106Brighton/Hove 647
    8Oxford450Cambridge440Cambridge85Bristol636
    9Cambridgeshire444Oxford425Oxford73Oxford581
    10Brighton/Hove441Brighton/Hove 339Brighton70Cambridge462
    11Cardiff313Leeds289Leeds53Bath401
    12Bath313Bath273Newcastle53Cardiff382
    13Leeds291Newcastle248Southampton 47Leeds338
    14Inverness285Cardiff204Leicester47York297
    15York276Southampton194Nottingham43Newcastle282
    16Crawley221York193Luton38Inverness275
    17Nottingham217Nottingham189Cardiff37Stratford-upon-Avon 271
    18Aberdeen216Leicester180Chester35Nottingham245
    19Newscastle209Luton165Bath33Coventry245
    20Reading204Inverness165Reading33Reading237

    Please note that figures are based on small sample sizes for all cities with the exception of London and should therefore be treated with caution. See the documents below for sample size. Also note that the top 50 towns may differ to the published ONS tables as VisitBritain have access to more granular towns data from 2023 (back-dated to 2019).

View the latest report

Top Towns Historical 1999 - 2023

See the top ranking towns in the UK by the volume of visits received by inbound tourists.

Detailed towns data 2009 - 2023

Find out how many visitors went to different towns and cities in the UK and which inbound markets they came from. You can also explore the data by journey purpose and quarter.

PDF

Top destinations for day trips & characteristics of day trippers (1).pdf

IPS data for towns and cities typically measures overnight visits. However, this report looks at where inbound visitors to the UK went on day trips, based on a sponsored question in 2016.

About the survey

The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It covers all major air, sea and tunnel ports, providing detailed information on the numbers and types of visits made by people travelling to and from the UK.

Please see About IPS for further information and the ONS.

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