175,000
total number of visits by Canadian visitors to Scotland in 2023
1.9 million
total number of nights spent in Scotland by Canadian visitors in Scotland in 2023
£180 million
total spend by Canadian visitors to Scotland in 2023
11.0
average nights per visit by Canadian visitors to Scotland in 2023
Source: IPS, 2023 (numbers have been rounded)
In 2023, Canada was Scotland’s eighth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was fifth by expenditure and fifth by number of nights.
Canadian visitors accounted for 4% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 5% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2023.
Trip intentions in 2023 were very similar to those seen in 2022, where visits to see friends and relatives were more common and holiday visits less common than pre pandemic.
Source: IPS, 2023
In 2023, we commissioned the Scotland Visitor Survey to gather insight on visitor attitudes and behaviours. The scope of the survey was leisure overnight visitors only.
The survey explored the profile of the visitors who took part in the research, including:
Information on Canadian visitors will be updated in 2024. Information is available on the background, methodology, and key highlights from the Scotland Visitor Survey 2023.
Browse our Scotland Visitor Survey 2023 page.
In 2022, our partner, VisitBritain undertook comprehensive research with international leisure travellers. They spoke to global tourists from many markets, including Canada.
Whilst the research focuses on perceptions and experiences of Britain, there are insights which are useful for the Scottish tourism industry.
Long-haul markets see Britain more consistently as:
The International Passenger Survey is a continuous survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics. It covers all major air, sea and tunnel ports.
The survey provides information on the numbers and types of visits made by people travelling to and from the UK. Anonymous face to face interviews are undertaken with a sample of passengers entering and leaving the UK.
Find out more on the survey methodology on ons.gov.uk.
Read further ONS publications on ons.gov.uk.
Read how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the IPS data collection on visitbritain.org.
