Domestic GB Tourism Statistics (day trips): January to March 2023

The statistics in this release are based on a new combined online survey that replaces the separate Great Britain Tourism Survey and Great Britain Day Visits Survey that ran until the end of 2019. Further information is provided in the methodology and quality section of this publication on changes to the survey that limit comparability with the published estimates for 2019 and previous years, for further information see the section on comparability and coherence.

This is the first release of the main estimates for the volume and value of domestic day trips taken by British residents in Wales and Great Britain from January to March 2023. The statistics published in this release cover the period from the start of January to the end of March 2023. The report includes estimates and details of day trips taken in Wales, and in Great Britain for comparative purposes.

There are two main measures for day trips reported in this publication.

3 hours or more leisure day trips

These are trips by adults and accompanied children that lasted for 3 or more hours, including travel time, to undertake one or more eligible leisure activities.

Tourism day trips

These are a subset of 3 hours or more leisure day visits and to qualify as a tourism day trip they must meet the additional criteria of being undertaken less often than once a week and must include a visit to a place outside of the local authority where the trip started.

Further information is provided in the section on definitions.

These statistics are used to monitor domestic tourism demand and measure the contribution and impact of domestic tourism on the visitor economy. A key purpose of these statistics is to uncover insights into market trends over time. Estimates of domestic day trips to Wales for 2021 and estimates of of domestic day trips for 2022 have been published and are comparable with the results in this release.

These statistics are labelled as ‘experimental’ to enable testing and further modification to meet user needs. Further information on this is available on the Office for National Statistics website. We are keen to check that the new tourism statistics meet user needs and invite you to provide feedback on the information in this output at tourismresearch@gov.wales.

Detailed results for England and Scotland are being published by VisitEngland and VisitScotland.

Wales trips

• From January to March 2023, Great Britain (GB) residents took 43.5 million leisure day trips lasting 3 hours or more in Wales with £1.23 billion spent during these trips.
• 25% of leisure day trips taken in Wales were tourism day trips with 11.0 million tourism day trips taken in the first quarter of 2023, with an associated spend of £465 million.
• Approximately 6% of GB leisure day trips of 3 hours or more and 5% of tourism day trips included a visit in Wales. The share of total GB spend was 5% for leisure day trips of 3 hours or more, and 4% for tourism day trips.
• During the first quarter of 2023, trip volumes and expenditure in Wales were highest in March, for both day trips lasting 3 hours or more and for tourism day trips.
• The first quarter of 2023 saw a slight increase in the volume of leisure day visits of 3 hours or more taken in Wales, compared to the first quarter of 2022. In contrast, the volume of tourism day trips taken in Wales was lower in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter of 2022.
• The average expenditure on leisure day trips of 3 hours or more was £28 compared to £42 for tourism day trips taken in Wales.

Great Britain trips

• From January to March 2023, GB residents took 676.4 million leisure day trips lasting 3 hours or more in GB with £24.9 billion spent during these trips.
• 35% of leisure day trips taken in GB were tourism day trips with 239.7 million tourism day trips taken during the first quarter of 2023, with an associated spend of £10.4 billion.
• During the first quarter of 2023, trip volumes and expenditure were highest in March, for both day trips lasting 3 hours or more and for tourism day trips.
• The volume of day trips taken in GB during the first quarter of 2023 was higher than during the first quarter of 2022, for both day trips lasting 3 hours or more and for tourism day trips.
• The average expenditure on leisure day trips of 3 hours or more was £37 compared to £43 for tourism day trips taken in GB.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

[Note 1] Percentages do not sum to 100% as some leisure day trips included visits to more than one nation.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

[Note 1] Percentages do not sum to 100% as some tourism day trips included visits to more than one nation.

From January to March 2023, there were 676.4 million leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in GB by British residents with a total expenditure of £24.9 billion. During the same period there were 43.5 million leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in Wales with a total expenditure of £1.23 billion. Approximately 6% of all leisure day trips of 3 hours or more by British residents were taken in Wales, compared to 84% taken in England and 10% taken in Scotland. The share of total spend in Wales was 5%.

There were 239.7 million tourism day trips taken in GB by British residents in the first quarter of 2023, with a total expenditure of £10.4 billion. During the same period there were 11.0 million tourism day trips taken in Wales with a spend of £465 million. Tourism day trips accounted for 25% of leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in Wales and 38% of expenditure.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

The average expenditure on both leisure day trips of 3 hours or more and tourism day trips taken in Wales is lower than GB with an average spend per trip of £28 and £42 respectively. Notably, there is a higher average spend on tourism day trips than leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in GB and in Wales.

Average expenditure on leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in Wales during the first quarter of 2023 was slightly lower than during the first quarter of 2022, which saw an average spend of £29 per trip for leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in Wales. In contrast, average expenditure on tourism day trips taken in Wales was higher during the first quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter of 2022, when the average spend per trip for tourism day trips taken in Wales was £38. Higher expenditure on tourism day trips in the first quarter of 2023 is driven by expenditure on trips taken in March 2023.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

[Note 1] Low base sizes for 'Attended an organised public event', 'Took part in a health or wellbeing experience', 'Took part in leisure activities not mentioned above', 'Went to an arts, cultural or entertainment experience', and 'went to a visitor attraction' - data should be treated with caution.

Figure 1: Proportion of 3 hours or more leisure day trips in Great Britain and Wales by main activity undertaken, January to March 2023

Image

Description of Figure 1: A clustered bar chart showing that visiting friends or relatives was the most frequent main activity undertaken on leisure day trips of 3 hours or more in GB and Wales.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

Visiting friends and relatives comprised 33% of trips taken in Wales and 36% of trips taken in GB. Food and drink, a night out or speciality shopping was the second most popular main activity undertaken on leisure day trips of 3 hours or more in GB and Wales, with 13% of trips taken in Wales featuring this as their main activity. Taking part in hobbies and interests was the next most popular main activity for both GB and Wales, undertaken on 12% of trips taken in Wales. 

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

Figure 2: Volume of 3 hours or more leisure day trips to Great Britain by month of visit in millions, January to March, 2022 and 2023

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Description of Figure 2: A column chart showing that although the volume of 3 hours or more tourism day trips taken in GB in January remained stable across 2022 and 2023, monthly volumes for February 2023 and March 2023 overtook trip volumes for corresponding months in 2022, peaking in March.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2022 and 2023

In the first quarter of 2023, March saw the highest monthly volume of leisure day trips of 3 hours or more, with 237.4 million trips taken in GB. These trips generated £9.82 billion in expenditure, making March the month with the highest expenditure on leisure day trips of 3 hours or more taken in GB during the first quarter of 2023. Trip volumes for the first quarter of 2023 were 9%(r) higher than trip volumes for the same period in 2022, while expenditure was 28%(r) higher.

(r) Revised on 19 September 2023. 

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

Figure 3: Volume of 3 hours or more leisure day trips to Wales by month of visit in millions, January to March, 2022 and 2023

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Description of Figure 3: A column chart showing that although the volumes of leisure day visits of 3 hours of more taken in Wales in January and February 2023 were lower than the volumes for January and February 2022, trip volumes in March 2023 were higher than in March 2022.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2022 and 2023

18.0 million leisure day visits of 3 hours or more were taken in Wales during March 2023, making March the month with the highest volume of these trips in the first quarter of 2023. Expenditure was also highest in March, with £558 million generated by these trips. The volume of leisure day visits of 3 hours or more taken in Wales during the first quarter of 2023 was 3% higher than the volume of these trips taken in Wales during the first quarter of 2022, while expenditure was 1% higher.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

Figure 4: Volume of tourism day trips to Great Britain by month of visit in millions, January to March, 2022 and 2023

Image

Description of Figure 4: A column chart showing that across the first quarter of 2023, the monthly volumes of tourism day trips taken in GB were higher than monthly trip volumes in the first quarter of 2022, with trip volumes peaking in March.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2022 and 2023

82.7 million tourism day trips were taken in Great Britain during March in 2023. Expenditure was also highest in March, with an expenditure of £4.14 billion on GB tourism day visits. Trip volumes for the first quarter of 2023 were 21%(r) higher than trip volumes for the same period in 2022, while expenditure was 20%(r) higher.

(r) Revised on 19 September 2023.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2023

Figure 5: Volume of tourism day trips to Wales by month of visit in millions, January to March, 2022 and 2023

Image

Description of Figure 5: A column chart showing that during the first quarter of 2023, monthly volumes of tourism day trips were initially lower than during corresponding months in 2022, before rising in March and overtaking trip volumes for March 2022.

Source: Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), January to March 2022 and 2023

The volume of day trips and expenditure generated by tourism day trips taken in Wales during the first quarter of 2023 peaked in March, with 5.1 million tourism day trips taken and £267 million spent during this period. Trip volumes for the first quarter of 2023 were 8%(r) lower than trip volumes for the same period in 2022, while expenditure was 3% higher.

(r) Revised on 19 September 2023.

Definitions

There are two main measures for day trips used in this report.

3 hours or more leisure day trips

Trips by adults and accompanied children that lasted for 3 or more hours, including travel time, to undertake one or more eligible leisure activities. All overnight trips are excluded as are day trips from a holiday accommodation base.

Tourism day trips

These are a subset of 3 hours or more leisure day visits and to qualify as tourism day trips, they must meet the additional criteria of being undertaken less often than once a week and they must include a visit to a place outside of the local authority where the trip started. The requirement to travel to a different local authority covers most activities with the exception of trips where the main activity is watching live sports events, going to visitor attractions or going to public events, which qualify as tourism day visits even if they are undertaken within the same local authority.

Eligible leisure activities

• Visited friends or relatives
• Went to a visitor attraction, such as a historic house, theme park, or museum
• Took part in sports or outdoor leisure activities
• Went sightseeing and exploring areas
• Took part in hobbies and interests
• Took part in a health or wellbeing experience
• Attended a special event or celebration (such as a wedding or birthday)
• Attended an organised public event (such as an exhibition or live sport)
• Went to an arts, cultural or entertainment experience (such as a museum)
• Food and drink, a night out or speciality shopping
• Took part in leisure activities not mentioned above

Other definitions used in this publication

Volume

An estimate of what the grossed-up number of day trips undertaken by the population would be if the survey sample is representative of the whole GB population. The reported volume of trips is an estimate of trips by individuals, so that a travel party of two people would count as two individual trips.

Value

An estimate of what the total expenditure on day trips by the population would be if the survey sample is representative of the whole GB population.

These definitions and the associated qualifying criteria have been revised as part of the new combined GBTS/GBDVS survey to align with agreed international standards. These changes impact comparability between the published domestic day trips estimates for 2023 with those published for 2019 and previous years.

Methodology

In 2019, Visit Wales, VisitScotland and VisitEngland undertook a review of the requirements and methods for producing the official GB domestic tourist statistics, to future-proof the data collection methods, whilst maintaining the reliability and robustness of the information reported.  As a result, substantial changes were introduced as part of a new combined online survey collecting data on both domestic overnight trips as well as domestic day trips.

The sample for the new combined online survey is a non-probability-based design sourced from 4 ESOMAR accredited online panel providers and includes quotas for key demographic variables to make the overall sample as representative as possible of GB population. The target annual sample size for the survey of overnight visitors is 35,000 completed interviews. Fieldwork for the new survey started in England and Wales in January 2023 and the number of interviews achieved for the period January to March 2023 is 8,208 interviews for GB residents including 1,003 interviews with Welsh residents. Not every person who is interviewed will have taken an eligible day trip and so the base sizes of eligible trips taken used for trip estimation are lower than the number of interviews.

Further base sizes will be provided for 2023 in the GBDVS Background Quality Report 2023, which will be published in early 2024.

As part of the survey changes, a revised weighting scheme has been introduced to improve efficiency, whilst making the results as representative as possible of the GB population. However, the use of a non-probability online sample limits the extent to which the survey responses are truly representative of the full GB population, a limitation of similar online sample surveys. The new weighting scheme uses the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) mapped to approximate social grade for the purpose of quotas and weighting to the GB population. The change to using NS-SEC as the population statistics source will impact the estimation and reporting of trips compared to the previous reporting of social grade used for GBDVS in 2019 and previous years. We have introduced a new question in the survey during 2023 that captures household income that will be used to analyse and report on trips taken by different household income bands from 2023 onwards.

Further details of the changes to survey method, sample design, estimation approaches and the effects of applied caps will be made available in the GBDVS Background Quality Report 2023. Further information is also available in the GBDVS background quality report 2022.

Comparability and coherence

Statistics for GB day trips have been collected in a broadly similar way since 2011. However, the changes in survey methodology introduced in 2021, together with the interruption in data collection due to COVID-19, means that results published from April 2021 onwards are not directly comparable with data published for 2019 and previous years.

The estimates of volume from 2021 onwards included trips by GB adults and accompanying children, whereas the published day trip volumes for 2019 and previous years were estimates of adult trips only.

As part of the survey, respondents are asked about any day trips they have taken in the 7 days prior to their date of interview (reference period).  Trip and expenditure estimates are reported for individual calendar months as well as for quarterly and annual periods. As the interview reference periods do not exactly correspond with calendar months an adjustment is made using a ‘seasonal smoothing factor’ to improve monthly comparisons within and between years. The monthly estimates are subject to limitations on sample size and seasonal fluctuations in trip taking across the year. The monthly pattern of visits in 2021 will have also been influenced by any COVID-19 restrictions (Senedd Cymru) in place limiting travel at different times of the year, as well as by public confidence undertaking different leisure activities. Users are advised to be aware of these limitations when making monthly or quarterly comparisons.

Accuracy

The statistics produced from the Great Britain Day Visits Survey in 2019 and previous years have been designated as official statistics, which provides reassurance to users that the statistics are produced to the very highest professional standards of trustworthiness, quality and value, set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics (Office for National Statistics). Due to the changes in methodology and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey results for 2021, 2022 and 2023 have been labelled as ‘experimental statistics’ (Office for National Statistics). The new survey and statistics have undergone a comprehensive programme of quality assurance including piloting of the survey, analysis of changes to the trip definitions, testing the impact of the new weighting scheme and a review of caps and imputation rules. Changes to the survey methodology and estimation have taken account of a review and advice provided by the Methodology Advisory Service of the Office for National Statistics.

As the statistics are produced using a non-probability online survey method, they are subject to the limitations and potential sources of bias and error associated with such surveys. These include:

• coverage error due to part of the GB population not having online access
• sampling error by using a sample to measure the behaviour of the full GB population
• sample bias by including differences between people with online access and who are online panel members compared to those who are not
• measurement error due to respondents entering incorrect values
• non-response error including survey refusals and drop-outs and the availability of ‘don’t know’ and ‘prefer not to say’ options

The GBDVS data is weighted to correct for any imperfections in the achieved sample that might lead to bias and to rectify any differences between the sample and the target GB population. The survey uses a mix of accredited online panels to mitigate for possible panel specific biases, and the mix of panels is kept consistent over time. Demographic quotas are used to align the sample with the GB population. The survey script and data processing include bespoke checks to verify the accuracy of responses. Imputation is used to cover missing data and caps are used to minimise the impact of extreme values that are entered. It is not possible to measure standard sample errors due to the non-probability sample being used, but base sizes are reported for eligible trip takers and users are advised to consider and be cautious of small base sizes, particularly for monthly data and lower-level geographies, when drawing inferences from the statistics.

Further details of quality assurance and trip base sizes for 2023 will be provided in the GBDVS Background Quality Report 2023. Further information is also available in the GBDVS background quality report 2022.

Relevance

These statistics are used both within and outside the Welsh Government to monitor domestic tourism demand and measure the contribution and impact of domestic tourism on the visitor economy. A key purpose of these statistics is to uncover insights into market trends over time. The estimates released for 2021 will provide insights on the impact of COVID-19 on visitor levels and provide a baseline to measure performance across subsequent years.

As far as possible, the new combined GBTS and GBDVS survey provides consistency with previous information collected, but new questions capture enhanced information on activities undertaken and responder profiles including protected characteristics. It is envisaged that this additional information will be of value for the various users of the survey. The current questionnaire is included in the GBDVS background quality report 2022.

The survey sponsors are planning to engage with the priority users of the statistics to check the new survey information meets their needs and we encourage users of the statistics to provide feedback on the data and this output at tourismresearch@gov.wales.

Timeliness and punctuality

All outputs adhere to the Code of Practice by pre-announcing the date of publication through the upcoming calendar. Furthermore, should the need arise to postpone an output this would follow the statement on revisions, errors and postponements. We aim to publish data as soon as possible after the relevant research time period. Disruption to the new combined GBTS and GBDVS survey due to COVID-19 and comprehensive testing and quality assuring of the new statistics have resulted in the reporting of statistics for 2021, 2022 and 2023 being later than normal. Results for Wales will be published on a quarterly basis, to ensure estimates are supported by robust trip base sizes. Specific publication timings will be notified on the Welsh Government website, but the aim is to publish quarterly statistics for Wales approximately 9 to 10 weeks after the end of each quarter.

Estimates for domestic day trips in Wales in 2022

A summary of changes made to the GBDVS survey in 2021 compared to 2019 and previous years

Estimates for domestic day trips in England are available from VisitEngland

Estimates for domestic day trips in Scotland are available from VisitScotland

Statistician: Siân Hughes
Email: tourismresearch@gov.wales

Media: 0300 025 8099

SFR 67/2023