Statistics: Outdoor activity in Great Britain
Feb 07, 2022STATISTICAL BULLETIN
The 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.
