Britain continues to be a top travel destination for Canadians as the tourism industry recovers from the pandemic.
In 2022, visits from Canada to the U.K. exceeded 2019 U.K. visits and spend levels, according to recent data from VisitBritain, Britain’s national tourism agency.
Visits from Canada to the U.K. in 2022 were up three per cent from 2019, with 897,000 arrivals, spending a record-breaking total of £934 million / CAD$1.57 billion, a 27 per cent increase from 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Average length of stay for inbound Canadian travellers grew by two nights in 2022, to 11 nights, three nights higher than the global average of eight nights.
Britain and Canada share strong ancestral ties and VFR overtook holiday visits to become the most popular trip purpose for U.K., representing 47 per cent of trips. Holidays came in second place with 37 per cent, reaching 90 per cent of 2019 volumes, while business trips are further behind at 80 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes.
"We are thrilled to see this strong post-pandemic recovery from the Canadian market demonstrating that Britain remains a favourite destination for Canadians. With its connections of family and friends, Canadians love to explore the arts & culture, food & drink and heritage of the UK," said Paul Gauger, VisitBritain’s Executive Vice President, The Americas, Australia & New Zealand.
The Canadian market also ascended five ranks in both volume and value to sit within the top 10 key source markets. Canada currently represents the ninth largest and seventh largest most valuable market to the U.K.
