The number of international visits made by inbound tourists in the United Kingdom dropped drastically due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2020, the total amounted to only 2.45 million and it dropped again in 2021 by 51 percent. By contrast, in the best year of the 2010s, that number surpassed nine million.
Number of international business visits in the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021
(in 1,000s)
Data based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which covers all major air, sea, and tunnel ports. These results do not include any travel via the Channel Tunnel vehicle trains as the trains were isolated and no interviewing could take place.
Additional note from the source:
"Estimates produced from the IPS are subject to sampling errors that result because not every traveller to or from the UK is interviewed on the survey. Sampling errors are determined both by the sample design and by the sample size - generally speaking, the larger the sample supporting a particular estimate, the proportionately smaller is its sampling error. The survey sample size in 2021 is much smaller than in previous years because of the travel restrictions resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The estimates presented in this article for the whole of 2020 must be treated with particular caution, since the methods used have not been fully scrutinised or tested.
The estimates presented (...) make the best use of the available data and methods to produce estimates of international visits and spending. However, as noted, the numbers are small and the results should be treated with caution."
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Office for National Statistics (UK). (July 1, 2022). Number of international business visits in the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021 (in 1,000s) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 18, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/513024/inbound-business-visits-united-kingdom-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK). "Number of international business visits in the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021 (in 1,000s)." Chart. July 1, 2022. Statista. Accessed December 18, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/513024/inbound-business-visits-united-kingdom-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK). (2022). Number of international business visits in the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021 (in 1,000s). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 18, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/513024/inbound-business-visits-united-kingdom-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK). "Number of International Business Visits in The United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021 (in 1,000s)." Statista, Statista Inc., 1 Jul 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/513024/inbound-business-visits-united-kingdom-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK), Number of international business visits in the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021 (in 1,000s) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/513024/inbound-business-visits-united-kingdom-uk/ (last visited December 18, 2024)
Number of international business visits in the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2021 (in 1,000s) [Graph], Office for National Statistics (UK), July 1, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/513024/inbound-business-visits-united-kingdom-uk/