Tourism to the UK set to climb, Visit Britain forecast reveals

VisitBritain has published its inbound tourism forecast for 2025, showing that international visits overall and visitor spending to the UK are set to increase on 2024 levels, although with varying rates of growth from across its major inbound markets.

VisitBritain’s overall forecast for spending by international visitors in the UK in 2025 is £33.7 billion, up seven per cent on the spending predicted in 2024.

Looking at the number of visits to the UK, a record 43.4 million visits are forecast, up five per cent on the 41.2 million expected in 2024.

VisitBritain’s analysis also considers tourism’s overall competitive position globally and the longer-term potential for growth. If inbound tourism to the UK was to grow at the same pace as forecasts are currently indicating for Western Europe, the industry would be worth an additional £4.4 billion per year by 2030 to the UK economy.

“We have an ambition to welcome 50 million international visitors a year to the UK by 2030, and this positive forecast shows that we are well on our way to achieving this, setting the scene for our visitor economy to maintain its competitive edge and thrive for years to come,” said tourism minister Sir Chris Bryant.

“International visitors spend tens of billions of pounds in the UK with the money generated supporting jobs, businesses and driving growth for local economies, so it is encouraging to see the steady increase forecast this year on 2024,” added VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates.

Tourism is one of Britain’s most successful industries, its third largest service export and a major part of British trade.

For destination inspiration in Britain in 2025, including VisitBritain’s dedicated screen tourism hub, see VisitBritain’s global consumer website and for VisitBritain’s 2025 annual events calendar see: visitbritain.com/en/annual-events-britain.