In 2024, the United Kingdom pretty much cemented its status as a top global spot for tourists, drawing in roughly 42.6 million international visitors, according to the International Passenger Survey (IPS) latest numbers. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published this on August 26, 2025, and VisitBritain later confirmed it.
The wave of visitors brought in around £32.5 billion and added up to 293 million overnight stays. We’re talking about a 6% bump in arrivals compared to 2023, getting pretty close to those pre-pandemic days of 2019 – just a tiny 1% shy, actually.
Key Source Markets and Economic Impact
The United States totally nailed it as the leading market, throwing down a record £7.26 billion. Right behind them were the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, then Germany, France, and Australia. Most of the visitors still come from Europe, about 25.9 million, but North America really took off, hitting 6.5 million visitors, a jump of 22% since 2019, with a massive 66% spending increase to £8.15 billion.
Other places farther out also showed a good boost. For example, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia both had a 56% rise in arrivals since 2019, which shows the UK’s got a growing appeal for long-distance travelers. However, Northeast Asia, especially China, is still lagging a bit. They’re up 26% from 2023, but still down 48% from before the pandemic.
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Travel Trends: Leisure Dominates, Business Recovers
Most people came for fun, making up 41% of arrivals (that’s 15.9 million). Visiting friends and family was also huge, setting a record at 13.3 million (34%). Business travel is still down (22% below 2019), but it did increase by 5% compared to last year, with 6.8 million trips and a 12% spending increase. The average person spent £763 over about 6.9 nights. Though spending per person looks better than in 2019, it’s not quite as good when you factor in inflation.
Looking Ahead
All things considered, UK tourism in 2024 demonstrated some resilience and even some growth, especially coming from North America and places like New Zealand and Saudi Arabia. There are definitely some hurdles to clear, mostly getting business travel and Northeast Asian visitors back on track. Still, almost record visitor numbers and solid economic impacts suggest things are looking up for UK tourism.