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 explores the profile of the visitors who took part in the research. We collated information on the background, methodology, and key highlights from the Scotland Visitor Survey 2023.
Published August 2024
21%
of UK visitors booked their trip within one month of travel
29%
of UK visitors booked their trip between three to six months of travel
18%
of European visitors booked their trip within one month of travel
42%
of European visitors booked their trip between three to six months of travel
7%
of long haul visitors booked their trip within one month of travel
42%
of long haul visitors booked their trip between 3 and 6 months of travel
| When started to plan trip | UK visitors | Europe visitors | Long haul visitors |
| Less than 2 weeks | 7% | 3% | 1% |
| 2 to 4 weeks | 11% | 7% | 2% |
| 1 to 2 months | 23% | 18% | 6% |
| 3 to 6 months | 34% | 42% | 29% |
| 7 to 12 months | 21% | 21% | 33% |
| 1 to 2 years | 4% | 4% | 18% |
| Over 2 years | 1% | 5% | 10% |
| When started to book trip | UK visitors | Europe visitors | Long haul visitors |
| Did not book in advance | 9% | 6% | 4% |
| Less than 2 weeks | 9% | 6% | 3% |
| 2 to 4 weeks | 12% | 12% | 4% |
| 1 to 2 months | 22% | 19% | 14% |
| 3 to 6 months | 29% | 42% | 42% |
| 7 to 12 months | 15% | 12% | 26% |
| 1 to 2 years | 2% | 1% | 6% |
| Over 2 years | < 1% | <1% | 1% |
Published August 2024
Published August 2024
Published August 2024
In 2022, our partner, VisitBritain undertook comprehensive research with international leisure travellers. They spoke to global tourists from across the globe. Please note that this research included people who may not have yet visited Britain or Scotland.
Whilst the research focuses on perceptions and experiences of Britain, there are insights which are useful for the Scottish tourism industry. The research breaks the customer journey down into 3 main stages: inspiration, deciding, planning and booking.
The research identifies three pillars of inspiration: social interaction, everyday life and media and trade information.
Inspiration to visit Britain varies by region, triggered more by deals for European visitors, while social media inspires in Asia and the Middle East, and bargain airfare or tour deals spur Northern European visitors to consider.
When we look at more specific resources used in the Inspiration phase, we note that a broad combination of resources are being used but those providing reviews and comparisons are used more often.
When it comes to the deciding phase, at a global level, we see the role of price comparison sites and airlines significantly increase, whilst the relevance of peer review sites diminishes somewhat.
Long haul travellers engage with more information sources in the deciding stage (than short haul travellers).
Around one-in-three booked as a package to Britain, with short-haul markets tending to book elements more independently.
Tourists from the Americas and India are disproportionately likely to book as a package, with the Middle East also mirroring this tendency.
Europe has a lower tendency to use travel agents / tour operators to make travel and accommodation bookings.