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Tourism Volume and Value

The tables below detail the latest figures for the South East Region from the United Kingdom Tourism Survey, the International Passenger Survey and the GB Leisure Day Visits Survey.

Volume and Value of Domestic Overnight Tourism 2000 - 2007

 
  Trips (Mn) Nights (Mn) Spend (£Mn)
2000 23.3 73.4 2,992
2001 23.3 73.6 3,391
2002 22.6 68.0 2,975
2003 21.0 60.1 3,001
2004 16.6 48.5 3,006
2005 18.2 51.3 2,644
2006 18.1 52.7 2,429
2007 17.9 50.0 2,353

Source: United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS), VisitBritain

Note: Figures for tourism by UK residents are normally rounded to the nearest 100,000 trips, 100,000 nights and £5 million spending.

In May 2005 the four national tourist boards introduced a new methodology for the United Kingdom Tourism Survey replacing a telephone methodology with a face-to-face survey methodology. The change was brought about as a result of doubts in the validity of the survey data produced by the telephone methodology, which in 2004 produced significant drops in the levels of domestic tourism, going against other survey data and industry feedback. Since the new survey commenced in May 2005, VisitBritain and the other national tourist boards have estimated the number of trips for the period January - April 2005. 2005 data is not comparable with previous years due to the introduction of a new methodology.

Volume and Value of Overseas Overnight Tourism in the South East 2000 - 2007

 
  Visits (Mn) Nights (Mn) Spend (£Mn)
2000 3.85 29.09 1,359
2001 3.58 28.84 1,399
2002 3.70 28.83 1,400
2003 3.59 28.37 1,295
2004 3.95 31.28 1,467
2005 4.14 32.69 1,470
2006 4.32 36.00 1,679
2007 4.41 32.13 1,592

Source: International Passenger Survey (IPS), Office for National Statistics

Note: Figures for overseas tourism are rounded to the nearest 10,000 trips, 100,000 nights and £1Mn spending.

Tourism Day Visits to the South East 2002-2003

 
  Trips (Mn) Spend (£Mn)
Tourism South East 194 6,120

Source: GB Leisure Day Visits Survey 2004, Countryside Agency, VisitBritain, VisitScotland, Wales Tourist Board, British Waterways, Countryside Council for Wales, DCMS, the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Scottish Natural Heritage.

Note: All data relates to visits made by UK residents to South East England. A tourism day visit is a trip lasting 3 hours or more and not taken on a regular basis.