Birmingham is the UK's second city and one of its five most-visited destinations by international travellers, drawing 927,000 inbound visits in 2024 according to the ONS International Passenger Survey. The wider West Midlands visitor economy set records in the same year: 101.5 million visitors — the first time the region has passed 100 million — and £14 billion in visitor spending. Add a record 13 million passengers through Birmingham Airport in the 2024/25 financial year and the £1.2 billion economic legacy of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the city's tourism trajectory is firmly upward. All figures below come from official statistics bodies, tourism boards and operators, and are the latest available as of 2026.
Key Birmingham tourism statistics
- 927,000 inbound visits to Birmingham in 2024, up from 805,000 in 2022, making it the UK's fourth most-visited town among international visitors (VisitBritain/ONS).
- A record 101.5 million people visited the West Midlands in 2024 — up 2.84 million (2.9%) on 2023 and 6 million more than in the 2022 Commonwealth Games year (West Midlands Growth Company).
- The regional visitor economy reached £14 billion in 2024, up £0.94 billion (7%) year on year.
- Tourism supported an all-time-high 114,475 full-time-equivalent jobs across the region in 2024.
- Birmingham Airport handled a record 13.004 million passengers in the 2024/25 financial year, with close to 14 million forecast for 2025/26.
- The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games contributed roughly £1.2 billion in gross value added to the UK economy, with 1.5 million tickets sold.
- Around 2,300 hotel rooms across 20 projects are in Birmingham's development pipeline — about 16% of current supply.
International visitors to Birmingham
- Birmingham received 927,000 inbound visits in 2024, broadly level with 2023 (934,000) and well above the 805,000 recorded in 2022, per VisitBritain's town-level IPS data.
- That equates to growth of roughly 15% between 2022 and 2024, aided by the Commonwealth Games spotlight and an expanding events calendar.
- The UK as a whole recorded 42.6 million inbound visits and £32.5 billion in visitor spending in 2024, according to VisitBritain's annual inbound data — Birmingham captures around one in every 46 of those trips.
- The ONS badges 2024 IPS estimates as 'official statistics in development' following survey changes, so year-on-year comparisons should be read with caution.
How Birmingham compares with other UK cities
- Birmingham was the fourth most-visited UK town by international visitors in 2024, behind London (20.9 million), Edinburgh (2.6 million) and Manchester (1.5 million), and just ahead of Liverpool (918,000) (VisitBritain/ONS).
- Birmingham's 927,000 visits put it within 1% of Liverpool — the two cities have swapped places in recent years — while Manchester attracts roughly 1.6 times as many inbound trips. See our companion posts on Manchester tourism statistics and Liverpool tourism statistics.
- London remains in a league of its own with over 20 times Birmingham's inbound volume — our London tourism statistics post has the full picture.
The West Midlands visitor economy
- A record 101.5 million visitors came to the West Midlands (Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry and Solihull) in 2024 — up 2.84 million (2.9%) on 2023, per the West Midlands Growth Company.
- Visitor spending reached £14 billion, up £0.94 billion (7%) year on year, with May and August the peak months.
- Day visitors accounted for 89.8 million trips — 88.5% of the total — underlining the region's strength as a short-break and day-trip destination.
- Shopping is the most valuable sector at £4.9 billion (46.6% of direct spend), while recreation — concerts, attractions and sport — grew fastest, up 10% to £1.54 billion.
- Tourism supported 114,475 full-time-equivalent jobs in 2024, an all-time high and 1,540 more than in 2023.
Birmingham Airport: record passenger numbers
- Birmingham Airport handled a record 13.004 million passengers in the 2024/25 financial year, according to the airport's annual results.
- March 2025 was the airport's busiest March on record with over 950,000 passengers, up 3.8% year on year.
- The airport forecasts close to 14 million passengers in 2025/26 and is targeting 18 million by 2033, backed by investment in security lanes, immigration capacity and a new food and beverage area opening in 2026.
- The busiest routes include Dublin, Amsterdam, Belfast, Dubai and Alicante, with new connections launched to Łódź, Derry, La Romana, Venice-Treviso and Plovdiv.
- Booking flight-inclusive city breaks is increasingly done online — our online travel booking statistics post tracks how that market is shifting.
Business events: the NEC, ICC and arenas
- The NEC — the UK's largest exhibition venue — stages more than 160 exhibitions a year, attracting around 2.4 million exhibition visitors annually (NEC Group).
- Utilita Arena Birmingham welcomes over 925,000 people a year across roughly 100 events.
- The ICC Birmingham accommodates up to 3,000 delegates with 3,000m² of exhibiting space, anchoring the city's conference trade.
- The NEC Group operates five major venues in the city region — the NEC, the ICC, Utilita Arena Birmingham, bp pulse LIVE and The Vox — making Birmingham one of the UK's leading business-events destinations.
Hotels: strong demand, growing pipeline
- Around 2,300 hotel rooms across 20 projects are in Birmingham's development pipeline — approximately 16% of current room supply — with most schemes in the upper-midscale and upscale segments (Invest West Midlands).
- Birmingham ranked 9th in the Colliers UK Hotel Market Index 2025 top ten (Edinburgh placed 1st, London 6th), reflecting healthy occupancy and strong average-daily-rate growth (ASAP/Colliers).
- Hotel demand is driven by the events calendar, corporate travel, university activity and city-centre regeneration, with limited new supply currently entering the market.
Commonwealth Games 2022: the legacy in numbers
- The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games contributed approximately £1.2 billion in gross value added to the UK economy between 2017/18 and 2023/24, per the official DCMS-commissioned evaluation.
- 1.5 million tickets were sold, and Games-related activity engaged 6.9 million attendees, participants, volunteers and employees in total.
- The Games generated £79.5 million in social value and created 22,380 full-time-equivalent years of employment, with nearly half of the economic contribution landing in the West Midlands.
- Foreign direct investment projects in the region rose 27% between the year before and the year after the Games, versus 4% growth across the rest of the UK (Commonwealth Sport).
- Visits to leisure centres in host local authorities rose 17% from pre- to post-Games, and 16,000 pieces of Games equipment were redistributed to over 290 West Midlands organisations.
Attractions: Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery's comeback
- Following its phased reopening from October 2024 after essential maintenance, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery welcomed 672,391 visitors in 2025 — a 305% year-on-year increase (Birmingham Museums Trust/ALVA).
- That performance ranked BMAG 62nd nationally and 2nd in the West Midlands among ALVA member attractions in 2025.
- Across the UK, ALVA's 409 member sites recorded 165 million visits in 2025, up 2% on 2024 but still 7% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels — context that makes BMAG's triple-digit growth stand out.
Sources
- VisitBritain — Inbound visits and spend: trends by UK town (IPS)
- VisitBritain — Inbound visits and spend: annual, UK
- West Midlands Growth Company — record year for tourism, 2024
- UKinbound — West Midlands celebrates record year
- Birmingham Airport — record passenger year
- Invest in UK Central — Birmingham Airport 2024/25 results
- Sport England — Birmingham 2022 evaluation report highlights
- Commonwealth Sport — Birmingham 2022 one-year post-Games evaluation
- GOV.UK — Evaluation of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (executive summary)
- NEC Group — our venues
- Invest West Midlands — hotels and hospitality
- ASAP — Colliers UK Hotel Market Index 2025
- Birmingham Museums Trust — 2025 ALVA visitor figures
