The International Passenger Survey (IPS) was suspended on 16 March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The ONS have made every effort to produce high-quality estimates for the periods when IPS data is not being collected but have not been able to produce a full set of results therefore no data from 2020 is available below. We have provided more detailed 2020 data on our latest monthly data page and 2020 inbound page. Data from 2021 is available on the 2021 quarterly page.
Please visit the dedicated pages for national, regional and county data or detailed market information.
Top towns for 'staying visits' by inbound visitors
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Town/city | Visits (000s) | Town/city | Visits (000s) | Town/city | Visits (000s) | |
| 1 | London | 21,713 | London | 21,072 | London | 21,708 |
| 2 | Edinburgh | 2,206 | Edinburgh | 2,515 | Edinburgh | 2,194 |
| 3 | Manchester | 1,661 | Manchester | 1,548 | Manchester | 1,432 |
| 4 | Birmingham | 1,112 | Birmingham | 1,119 | Birmingham | 1,109 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 845 | Glasgow | 882 | Glasgow | 855 |
| 6 | Glasgow | 771 | Liverpool | 824 | Liverpool | 836 |
| 7 | Brighton/Hove | 647 | Bristol | 615 | Bristol | 604 |
| 8 | Bristol | 636 | Oxford | 580 | Oxford | 601 |
| 9 | Oxford | 581 | Cambridge | 576 | Cambridge | 572 |
| 10 | Cambridge | 462 | Brighton/Hove | 478 | Brighton/Hove | 509 |
| 11 | Bath | 401 | Cardiff | 376 | Cardiff | 400 |
| 12 | Cardiff | 382 | Bath | 375 | Bath | 392 |
| 13 | Leeds | 338 | Leeds | 352 | York | 345 |
| 14 | York | 297 | Inverness | 322 | Inverness | 320 |
| 15 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 282 | York | 315 | Leeds | 304 |
| 16 | Inverness | 275 | Aberdeen | 244 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 294 |
| 17 | Stratford-upon-Avon | 271 | Nottingham | 236 | Aberdeen | 281 |
| 18 | Nottingham | 245 | Reading | 229 | Nottingham | 262 |
| 19 | Coventry | 245 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 226 | Windsor | 246 |
| 20 | Reading | 237 | Leicester | 218 | Reading | 239 |
Source: International Passenger Survey, Office for National Statistics. 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.
Download an excel table showing the 20 most visited towns and cities by visitors from overseas (XLS, 26.5KB) as far back as 1999.
Detailed data
This Excel document allows you to see how many visitors from overseas went to different towns and cities in the UK. It also shows a breakdown of visits to each town by major overseas markets. You can view visit data for towns by journey purpose, and quarter. Data is available from 2009-2019 (XLS, 13.6MB). Data for many towns is based on small sample sizes, so using 3 or 4 year averages is highly recommended.
Day trips
International Passenger Survey data for towns and cities typically measures staying visits (where visitors stay overnight). This report (PDF, 1.8MB) looks at where inbound visitors to the UK go on day trips, based on an extra question VisitBritain sponsored on the International Passenger Survey in 2016. Read about the top destinations for day trips and characteristics of day trippers.
