Tourism across the UK has been steadily rebounding since the pandemic. Some 41.2 million people visited in 2024, and forecasts for 2025 point to a 5 per cent increase, taking the total to 43.4 million. As arrivals rise, how travellers choose to spend their money is changing.
Visitors are increasingly drawn to experiences centred on wellness, sustainability and local culture rather than splashing out on the usual commercial fare. This shift is nudging them towards different locations and activities, prompting tourism providers to adapt. Although more people are coming, the cash being spent is not rising at the same clip, hinting at an uneven recovery when both spend and visitor numbers are considered.
Key Takeaways
The UK hospitality sector is thriving, with employment climbing to 3.5 million and outstripping overall economic growth, even though spending and visitor numbers are recovering unevenly.
- Tourism in the UK is on a steady path to recovery, with visitor numbers forecast to rise by 5% by 2025, yet growth in spend is lagging behind.
- The hospitality sector, especially restaurants and pubs, is adapting to customers’ appetite for wellness, sustainability and local experiences, deploying fresh marketing tactics.
- The sector's resilience and brisk expansion—5.9%, against the wider economy’s rate—are pivotal to building a sustainable and competitive future, powered by strategic investment and data-led insight.
Sector performance and regional developments
The pace of recovery is far from uniform. While long-haul and European travellers are bouncing back at similar rates, parts of East Asia remain sluggish. North American and Australian tourists are leading the charge.
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Within the United Kingdom, Scotland is logging the strongest growth, and London continues to perform well—outstripping the national average. Most trips are now for social purposes, such as visiting friends and family. Holiday travel is almost back to pre-pandemic levels, but business trips still lag behind.
The hospitality sector remains robust despite ongoing economic headwinds, including higher running costs and staffing shortages that linger from the pandemic. Worth £93 billion a year—up £20 billion since 2016—the sector is crucial to the UK economy. Now employing 3.5 million people, it is the country’s third-largest employer and contributes £54 billion in tax, much of it via VAT on hospitality services.
Restaurants, pubs and clubs account for more than half of the sector’s economic footprint. Operators are keeping pace through inventive marketing and service innovation. Firms large and small lean on targeted campaigns and social media to stay competitive.
Future outlook and strategic opportunities
Analysts reckon the industry will keep honing its offer to match customer demand, with greater personalisation and region-specific experiences top of the list. Making travel more accessible is also high on the agenda.
Domestically, Britons remain keen on short breaks and day trips. Increasingly, travellers want breaks that are enriching and good for their wellbeing, though cost and planning can get in the way. As a result, tourism bodies are poring over motivations and trends to shape better options.
Funding programmes such as the Discover England Fund have been invaluable in researching the development of new travel products. Although some schemes pre-date the pandemic, their insights remain relevant today. Businesses are using the findings to target high-growth markets and refine their offering.
Investment in hospitality reached £7.3 billion in 2019, representing 3 per cent of all UK business investment. The vast majority of hospitality firms are small and medium-sized enterprises—99 per cent of the sector—giving them agility but also leaving them with slender margins and in need of ongoing support to weather economic pressures.
Growing at 5.9 per cent—almost double the pace of the broader economy—the hospitality industry is a key engine for jobs and GDP. In some areas, it underpins up to 12 per cent of local employment. The resilience of the sector—from staff to investors—will be pivotal in forging a sustainable and competitive future for UK tourism.
With richer data now available to businesses and policymakers, the UK tourism and hospitality sectors can better forecast demand, track visitor behaviour and pursue strategies that chime with emerging trends. As global travel evolves, the year ahead will be a pivotal period for the sector to innovate and reposition itself.