Statistics: Outdoor activity in Great Britain
Feb 07, 2022The following data is taken from the ONS Great Britain Tourism and Day Visits Surveys between 2011 and 2019.
Trends in outdoor events
- Activity at the coast, marinas, and inland waters are all on the rise.
- The largest rise in outdoor activity has taken place in towns and cities.
- The coast has seen the second-largest increase in tourism.
- Remote mountains, woodlands, and grasslands have all seen a decline in visitor numbers.
Table 1: Great Britain outdoor activity events by year and location as published by the ONS GB Tourism Survey and GB Day Visits Survey (in millions)
| Location | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | % Change |
| Coastal Margin | 137,385 | 159,667 | 132,763 | 167,382 | 161,711 | 171,845 | 147,912 | 150,514 | 158,066 | 15 |
| Enclosed farmland | 181,047 | 175,961 | 163,165 | 193,284 | 204,268 | 208,802 | 202,593 | 187,454 | 171,050 | -6 |
| Freshwater | 32,446 | 28,719 | 29,080 | 32,769 | 35,058 | 42,791 | 37,730 | 42,055 | 35,879 | 11 |
| Marine | 112,433 | 128,695 | 105,931 | 142,700 | 151,638 | 147,363 | 124,216 | 124,368 | 128,518 | 14 |
| Mountains, moorlands and heaths | 68,484 | 65,638 | 60,286 | 68,118 | 69,540 | 72,989 | 69,086 | 63,598 | 61,111 | -11 |
| Semi-natural grassland | 89,861 | 77,577 | 73,710 | 85,786 | 89,137 | 94,454 | 87,509 | 88,183 | 79,648 | -11 |
| Urban | 441,937 | 468,789 | 464,777 | 607,411 | 626,913 | 667,436 | 607,593 | 691,429 | 677,393 | 53 |
| Woodlands | 68,246 | 60,922 | 57,396 | 67,356 | 69,273 | 71,458 | 67,774 | 65,752 | 59,488 | -13 |
Headline trends in outdoor activity expenditure by activity category
- The Great British public is gravitating toward organized sports and leisure activities and away from more sedate experiences.
- The largest single increase in expenditure was seen in adventure and water sports.
- Walking, running, and cycling remains popular and resilient in the face of competition amongst outdoor pursuits.
- Whilst visits to the beach have increased, spending has decreased.
- Local food and drink have seen one of the largest increases in spending.
Table 1: Activity expenditure by activity category and year as published by the ONS GB Tourism Survey and GB Day Visits Survey (£ millions, 2019 prices)
| Activity category | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | % Change |
| Sightseeing | 2,006,228 | 1,927,252 | 1,730,795 | 2,020,293 | 1,840,323 | 1,998,615 | 1,837,741 | 1,747,553 | 1,791,334 | -11 |
| Walking, running and cycling | 3,139,728 | 3,356,563 | 3,075,164 | 3,407,026 | 3,573,503 | 3,328,598 | 2,638,561 | 3,642,691 | 3,254,570 | 4 |
| Visited a beach & sunbathing | 713,328 | 627,031 | 651,068 | 552,335 | 664,242 | 670,899 | 483,819 | 634,485 | 666,126 | -7 |
| Parks, gardens, and wildlife | 1,490,470 | 1,510,965 | 1,467,830 | 1,475,973 | 1,594,854 | 1,681,372 | 1,363,380 | 1,649,022 | 1,562,604 | 5 |
| Adventure and water sports | 1,509,654 | 1,179,739 | 1,424,737 | 1,160,997 | 1,675,480 | 1,914,691 | 996,893 | 1,635,012 | 1,794,481 | 19 |
| Fishing | 464,572 | 493,589 | 440,929 | 349,676 | 392,554 | 437,962 | 267,867 | 403,312 | 467,756 | 1 |
| Other | 1,821,331 | 1,939,944 | 1,724,591 | 1,631,517 | 1,747,693 | 1,548,709 | 1,181,767 | 1,784,050 | 2,259,285 | 24 |
Trends in outdoor expenditure by activity
- Sightseeing continues its strong climb in outdoor activity expenditure.
- Growth in running and jogging is outpacing cycling.
- Adventure sports are losing spending to water sports.
- Golf continues to experience strong growth in spending.
Table 2: Activity expenditure by activity, activity category, and year as published by the ONS GB Tourism Survey and GB Day Visits Survey (£ millions, 2019 prices) 2011-2014.
| Activity | Activity category | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | % Change |
| Sightseeing / exploring at the coast | Sightseeing | 138,456 | 142,167 | 154,009 | 152,301 | 10 |
| Sightseeing / exploring the countryside | Sightseeing | 145,002 | 148,889 | 161,291 | 159,502 | 10 |
| Sightseeing in a town or city | Sightseeing | 271,510 | 278,788 | 302,011 | 298,661 | 10 |
| Sightseeing on foot | Sightseeing | 1,451,259 | 1,357,407 | 1,113,484 | 1,409,829 | -3 |
| Cycling or mountainbiking | Walking, running and cycling | 887,599 | 1,015,072 | 821,656 | 748,501 | -16 |
| Long walks, hikes or rambles (minimum of 2 miles / 1 hour) | Walking, running and cycling | 1,038,309 | 1,263,239 | 1,169,216 | 939,105 | -10 |
| Running, jogging, orienteering | Walking, running and cycling | 323,300 | 345,658 | 356,281 | 364,627 | 13 |
| Short walk/stroll (up to 2 miles/1 hour) | Walking, running and cycling | 890,520 | 732,594 | 728,011 | 1,354,794 | 52 |
| Sunbathing | Visited a beach & sunbathing | 283,991 | 266,539 | 268,896 | 202,886 | -29 |
| Visited a beach | Visited a beach & sunbathing | 429,336 | 360,492 | 382,171 | 349,448 | -19 |
| Visiting parks or gardens | Parks, gardens, and wildlife | 1,074,893 | 1,120,520 | 1,092,434 | 1,091,275 | 2 |
| Watching wildlife, bird watching, and other nature | Parks, gardens, and wildlife | 415,577 | 390,445 | 375,396 | 384,698 | -7 |
| Adventure sports (e.g. skiing, snowboarding, rafting, canyoning) | Adventure and water sports | 724,214 | 490,008 | 661,691 | 482,384 | -33 |
| Water sports including sailing, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, etc. | Adventure and water sports | 785,440 | 689,730 | 763,046 | 678,612 | -14 |
| Played golf | Other | 789,415 | 820,034 | 712,526 | 766,700 | -3 |
| Eating and drinking locally produced food and drink | Other | 300,458 | 342,663 | 316,501 | 295,643 | -2 |
| Had a picnic or BBQ | Other | 305,283 | 350,937 | 273,759 | 219,075 | -28 |
| Horse riding, pony trekking | Other | 426,175 | 426,310 | 421,805 | 350,100 | -18 |
Table 3: Activity expenditure by activity, activity category, and year as published by the ONS GB Tourism Survey and GB Day Visits Survey (£, 2019 prices) 2015-2019
| Activity | Activity category | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | % Change |
| Sightseeing / exploring at the coast | Sightseeing | 145,281 | 144,585 | 158,712 | 147,697 | 155,946 | 13 |
| Sightseeing / exploring the countryside | Sightseeing | 152,150 | 151,421 | 166,216 | 154,681 | 163,319 | 13 |
| Sightseeing in a town or city | Sightseeing | 284,894 | 283,529 | 311,232 | 289,633 | 305,808 | 13 |
| Sightseeing on foot | Sightseeing | 1,257,998 | 1,419,080 | 1,201,582 | 1,155,542 | 1,166,262 | -20 |
| Cycling or mountainbiking | Walking, running and cycling | 764,815 | 651,737 | 488,811 | 986,281 | 958,933 | 8 |
| Long walks, hikes or rambles (minimum of 2 miles / 1 hour) | Walking, running and cycling | 980,784 | 1,035,779 | 861,728 | 1,029,781 | 922,077 | -11 |
| Running, jogging, orienteering | Walking, running and cycling | 395,576 | 351,553 | 347,952 | 435,408 | 428,004 | 32 |
| Short walk/stroll (up to 2 miles/1 hour) | Walking, running and cycling | 1,432,329 | 1,289,530 | 940,070 | 1,191,222 | 945,556 | 6 |
| Sunbathing | Visited a beach & sunbathing | 266,990 | 247,056 | 167,920 | 269,386 | 281,659 | -1 |
| Visited a beach | Visited a beach & sunbathing | 397,253 | 423,842 | 315,899 | 365,099 | 384,467 | -10 |
| Visiting parks or gardens | Parks, gardens, and wildlife | 1,122,623 | 1,181,871 | 1,016,561 | 1,157,019 | 1,188,220 | 11 |
| Watching wildlife, bird watching, and other nature | Parks, gardens, and wildlife | 472,231 | 499,502 | 346,820 | 492,003 | 374,384 | -10 |
| Adventure sports (e.g. skiing, snowboarding, rafting, canyoning) | Adventure and water sports | 633,497 | 670,934 | 421,625 | 683,408 | 684,622 | -5 |
| Water sports including sailing, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, etc. | Adventure and water sports | 1,041,984 | 1,243,757 | 575,269 | 951,604 | 1,109,859 | 41 |
| Played golf | Other | 742,807 | 569,491 | 439,940 | 807,679 | 1,105,093 | 40 |
| Eating and drinking locally produced food and drink | Other | 298,396 | 280,084 | 230,772 | 208,527 | 449,481 | 50 |
| Had a picnic or BBQ | Other | 369,060 | 332,632 | 225,708 | 435,770 | 327,251 | 7 |
| Horse riding, pony trekking | Other | 337,430 | 366,502 | 285,347 | 332,075 | 377,461 | -11 |
References
ONS. (2011-2019). Leisure and Tourism. Great Britain Tourism and Day Visits Surveys. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism accessed 7th February 2022.
Citation. Jacklin, D. 2022. UK statistics for outdoor activity. Water Incident Research Hub, 30th January.
