Top inbound travel markets in the UK by visits 2021

The number of inbound tourist arrivals to the United Kingdom decreased remarkably in 2021 compared to 2019 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While the United States was the leading inbound travel market for the UK prior to the health crisis, inbound arrivals from the U.S. dropped sharply in 2021. That year, the Republic of Ireland recorded the highest figure, with around 708 thousand arrivals to the United Kingdom. In 2021, France followed in second place, and the U.S. ranked third.

Leading inbound travel markets for the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019 and 2021, ranked by number of visits (in 1,000s)

Country of residence	2019	2021
Republic of Ireland	2,851	708
France	3,561	677
United States	4,499	663
Spain	2,319	525
Germany	3,233	390
Poland	1,651	337
Netherlands	1,987	273
Italy	2,197	256
Romania	902	191
Switzerland	926	164
Belgium	1,135	159
Portugal	613	147
Canada	874	128
Sweden	789	117
Denmark	691	102

Loading statistic...

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Use Ask Statista Research Service

Release date

August 2022

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2019 and 2021

Supplementary notes

Data for 2021 excludes the Eurotunnel. Dover traffic was only included from the third quarter of the year.

Figures have been rounded. The source adds the following information: "No data were collected for Q2 to Q4 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Estimates are based on models using passenger numbers and IPS trend data".

Data can be found under Tab 2.06 of the source's Excel file.

Citation formats