Domestic day visits

Read the latest statistics on Scotland's domestic day visits performance. This includes number of visits and spend.

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Overview

The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey which includes two core domestic modules, overnight trips and day visits. It measures the volume and value of domestic tourism by residents of Great Britain. This report focuses on the domestic tourism day visit statistics for 2023 for Scotland.
The survey is jointly sponsored by VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales. The survey is currently undertaken by independent research agency, BMG.
The latest statistical release contains annual estimates for 2023. Please note the statistics within this report were revised and re-published on 12 March 2025, following a review of the methodology of the Great Britain Tourism Survey. Original reports and data published in March 2024 have now been removed.
A thorough methodological review of the Great Britain Tourism Survey approach and data processing was conducted, concluding in February 2025. The core aim of the review was to reduce volatility in the data and provide an accurate view of trends over time. Further information is available on this page within the "definitions and methodology" section.

1. Executive summary 2023

90.8 million

tourism day visits to Scotland by GB residents in 2023

£3.9 billion

total tourism day visit spend by GB residents in Scotland in 2023

£43

average daily spend per tourism day visit in Scotland in 2023

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey, 2023

Volume and spend on day visits 2023

Great Britain residents took 288.6 million leisure day visits lasting over three hours in Scotland with £9.4 billion spent during these visits in 2023. 31% of leisure day visits taken in Scotland were tourism day visits. There were 90.8 million tourism day visits taken with an associated spend of £3.9 billion.

When compared with 2022, tourism day visits and associated spend to Scotland had decreased. The average spend for tourism day visits to Scotland increased slightly from £41 in 2022 to £43 in 2023.

Quarter 3 (July to September) of 2023 had the highest total tourism day visits at 28.3 million. This quarter also produced the highest level of spend, with a total of £1.0 billion spent on tourism day visits.

The average spend for tourism day visits in Scotland was £43 compared to the average of £44 taken in Great Britain.

Profile of tourism day visits 2023

The largest proportion of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to visit friends or relatives (24%). The activity undertaken on tourism day visits that had the highest level of spend was food and drink, a night out, or speciality shopping (£743 million).

Half of tourism day visits taken in Scotland were to cities or large towns (50%). These locations also saw the highest level of spend at £2.6 billion.

The West of Scotland was the main region that was visited for 46% of tourism day visits during trips to Scotland in 2023. Tourism day visits to this region also generated the highest proportion of spend (46%).

Residents of Scotland generated the highest volume of tourism day visits and spend in Scotland. This accounted for 86% of tourism day visits taken and 80% of spend.

Families accounted for the highest proportion of tourism day visits (44%) and spend (43%) in Scotland.

Great Britain Tourism Survey: day visits annual report 2023

Published March 2025

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2. Definitions and methodology

The producers of the domestic tourist statistics (VisitScotland, Visit Wales and VisitEngland) work closely with the appointed research agency on the statistical processing and quality management of the survey. Detailed technical reports are available on request.

Methodology

The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey. It includes two core domestic modules, overnight trips and day visits. It measures the volume and value of domestic day visits taken by residents in Great Britain.

Data is gathered via an online survey. Results are weighted to provide a nationally representative estimation of day visit volume and value. Further detail on methodology can be found in the latest background and quality report to download on this page.

In 2019, the producers of the domestic tourist statistics undertook a review of the requirements and methods for producing the statistics. This was to help future-proof the data collection methods.

Results published from April 2021 onwards are not directly comparable with data published for 2019 and previous years because:

statistics from 2021 onwards are based on a new combined survey
changes in survey methodology introduced in 2021, together with the interruption in data collection due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

The target annual sample size for the Great Britain Tourism Survey day visits module is 35,000 completed interviews for Great Britain.

Definitions

Term	Definition
Three hours or more leisure day visits	These are visits by adults and accompanied children that lasted for three or more hours. This includes travel time, to undertake one or more eligible leisure activities.
Tourism day visits	These are a subset of three hours or more leisure day visits. To qualify as a tourism day visit, they must meet the additional criteria. They must have undertaken them less often than once a week and must include a visit to a place outside of the local authority where the visit started.

Great Britain Day Visits Survey 2023 - background and quality report

Published May 2024

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Domestic tourism statistics - statement on methodological review (updated)

Published October 2024

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3. Official statistics and partners

The Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS) is a national consumer survey. It's produced in adherence with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2022). This code is produced by the Office for Statistics Regulation.

VisitScotland jointly sponsors the survey with our partners, VisitEngland and Visit Wales.

Read the Code of Practice for Official Statistics on code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk.

Domestic day visits

Overview

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