The table illustrates the number of overseas visits to the UK from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Sweden, broken down by mode of travel (air and tunnel) in 2015 and 2021.
Overall, air travel was the most common mode of transport for visitors from all listed countries in both years. However, the number of visitors travelling by air generally increased slightly from 2015 to 2021, while tunnel travel shows more mixed trends, with noticeable decreases for some countries.
In terms of air travel, Germany had the highest number of visitors in both years (2079 in 2015, rising to 2129 in 2021). France and Italy followed, with air travel from France increasing from 1339 to 1441 and from Italy rising from 1445 to 1595. Bulgaria also showed a notable increase, from 57 to 111. In contrast, the number of visitors from Sweden fell significantly, from 756 in 2015 to only 266 in 2021, indicating a major decline. Air travel from Belgium and Portugal remained relatively stable, rising only slightly (Belgium: 167 to 183; Portugal: 260 to 261).
For tunnel travel, France and Belgium recorded the largest numbers in both years. Tunnel visits from Belgium rose from 569 to 746, while those from France increased from 1514 to 1676. However, Germany experienced a substantial decrease in tunnel travel, from 343 in 2015 to only 218 in 2021. Similarly, Sweden’s tunnel travel dropped from 19 to 7. For Bulgaria and Portugal, the figures remained extremely low in both years, with only 1 or 2 visits recorded.