Visiting friends & relatives
Visiting friends and relations (VFR) is a very resilient segment of the inbound visitor economy over recent years, with those travelling to the UK to see friends and relatives participating in many activities more traditionally associated with holiday visitors.
From 22 May we will be working to update all of the data and documents on this page following the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revision of the International Passenger Survey (IPS) data for 2009-2018 and the released detailed 2019 data. Please be patient as we update these pages or contact the VisitBritain research team if you have any questions- VB/VEResearch@visitbritain.org. Thank you.
Visiting friends and relatives by market
The latest quarterly data from the International Passenger Survey is available below. View data for visits, nights, and spend as well as filter visits by age, gender, season, mode of transport, length of stay. We also have latest quarterly data available for the whole of the UK, for the nations and regions of Britain and trend data by area, where you can filter by journey purpose.
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It is not recommended to use this data. You may find it helpful to consider looking at three year averages, or widening results by selecting fewer categories
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Use this data with caution as results are indicative. You may find it helpful to consider looking at three year averages, or widening results by selecting fewer categories
You can only select one period at a time if multiple countries are selected.
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OVERVIEW OF UK VISITOR STATISTICS {{activeYear.name}}
Number of visits
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Total expenditure (GBP)
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Total nights spent
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Average length of stay (Nights)
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Average spend per visit (GBP)
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Research your customer
We have an extensive range of market intelligence and insights into international markets.
- Take a look at our Markets & Segments Section to find out about the characteristics and performance of a specific markets or segments
- Discover which are the most popular activities for inbound visitors when they are in Britain
- Peruse our sector information for specific insights into culture, heritage and attractions, accommodation, countryside and coast, food and drink and shopping
