Domestic Overnight Tourism (GB Tourism Survey - GBTS)

The Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) is a national consumer survey measuring the volume and value of overnight domestic tourism trips taken by residents of the Great Britain. The Great Britain Tourism Survey was previously known as the United Kingdom Tourism Survey, however, from January 2011 onwards, data about trips taken by Northern Ireland residents is being collected separately by NISRA (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and will no longer be reported as part of a UK-wide survey.

The survey covers trips taken for any purpose, whether for holiday, business, visiting friends and relatives or some other reason.

Interviewing is carried out every week of the year using a face-to-face methodology. Annually, some 100,000 respondents are contacted, and any who have returned from an overnight trip within the past four weeks are asked to describe the details of that trip.

The UKTS has been running since 1989, though the methodology has changed a number of times since then. The current survey methodology started in May 2005, and comparisons with results from earlier years are difficult to make and should be treated with caution.

Results presented from 2011 onwards are based only on residents of Great Britain. Comparisons with previous years using the same geographical coverage are included in monthly and annual deliverables issued for results from January 2010 onwards.

No changes have been made to documents produced from 2005-2010. These consider the whole of the UK, and cannot be directly compared with results from the new Great Britain survey.

The survey is classified as an Official Statistic, and is jointly sponsored by the three national tourist boards – VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales.

 

hts

Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) 2012 Go

Monthly updates from the 2012 survey.

day visits

Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) 2011 Go

Updates from the 2011 survey, including results for the year January to December 2011.

green tourism, sustainability, VisitBritain, importance, climate change, government, climate change bill, economy, public demand

UK Tourism Survey 2010 Go

Detailed analysis for 2010, including summary tables, topic profiles, top towns, regional trends, and local authority & county analysis.

ukts 2005-2009

UKTS 2005 - 2009 Go

Results since the start of the United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS) in May 2005.

ukts 2000-2004

UKTS 2000 - 2004 Go

Results from the earlier survey (telephone methodology).

more abt

More About the Survey Go

Further information, including details of the methodology, confidence limits and release timetable.