Official Statistics

NTAS wave 10: International travel and European Entry Exit System

Published 12 June 2024

Applies to England

About this release

The National Travel Attitudes Study (NTAS) is an online and telephone survey which gathers responses from individuals aged 16 and over in England, drawn from people who have previously responded to the National Travel Survey (NTS).

This release covers Wave 10 of the NTAS, which collected responses from 1,584 individuals in March 2024. It is focused on concessionary bus travel and bus fare caps, international travel for leisure, and attitudes to the European Entry Exit System (EES).

A table is available, containing the underlying data for the questions from the survey.

These are official statistics. For more information, see the About these statistics section in notes and methodology for wave 10.

Headline figures

In NTAS wave 10:

• of those who have travelled internationally for leisure in the past 12 months, 91% had done so via a plane

• of those who travelled by plane, 32% experienced at least one event of transport disruption, compared to 33% of those who used a ferry or other boat, and 41% of those who used international rail

• a total of 69% of respondents had not heard of the European Entry Exit System (EES)

• once EES is implemented, 65% say they will travel to Europe about the same over the next 2 years compared to now, with 15% saying they will travel less

• of those who say they will travel to Europe the same, or less, in the next 2 years compared to now due to EES, around two-thirds (67%) expressed concerns about queueing and additional document checking

International travel for leisure

International travel in the context of the NTAS survey involves travel by individuals who reside in England, and who had travelled outside of the UK via an airport or seaport or international rail in the last 12 months prior to the survey, that is between March 2023 and March 2024. It concerns travel for the purpose of leisure, such as for a city break or to see family or friends.

For additional data, statistics and analysis related to passenger travel:

• aviation passenger statistics

• sea passenger statistics

Aviation passenger statistics are compiled by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA),who collect these alongside other UK airport data. Sea passenger statistics are compiled by the Department for Transport (DfT) Maritime statistics team, including international short-sea statistics covering travel to European destinations.

The Department for Transport Sea Passenger statistics also include an interactive dashboard of all maritime statistics

Frequency of international travel for leisure

Data are available on travel trends for UK residents and overseas visitors at the Office for National Statistics Travel Trends release.

All respondents were asked how frequently they had travelled abroad for leisure in the past twelve months. Around half (54%) had made at least one such trip, with 1 in 5 (20%) having made 3 or more trips.

Chart 9: Frequency of international travel for leisure in the last 12 months

How many times did you travel internationally for leisure in the last 12 months?	Percentage of respondents
Never	46%
Once	20%
Twice	14%
Three times or more	20%

Of those who did travel, 91% made a journey by plane, 13% by ferry or other boat, and 13% by international rail. As some people made multiple journeys these percentages will not sum to 100. Considering the modes used by people who made a single journey in the past year, 85% were by plane, 10% by ferry or other boat, and 8% by international rail.

Of all the respondents who made at least 1 international journey for leisure by plane in the past 12 months, 88% made short haul flights, for example from the UK to Europe or destinations in North Africa, and 34% of individuals made long haul flights, for example from the UK to Asia, South Africa, the Americas, Australia, or the Middle East.

Experience of travel disruption

Of those who travelled internationally for leisure in the last 12 months, 67% reported that they had experienced no disruption to their travel. Around a quarter of travellers (24%) experienced a single event of disruption, and 8% had their travel disrupted on more than one occasion.

Around a third of international travellers by plane (32%) or ferry (33%) mentioned experiencing at least one event of disruption, compared to 41% of people who travelled by international rail. Respondents could give multiple responses to this question, for example saying they experienced disruption on both plane and ferry journeys.

Of all respondents who had made at least 1 trip, 40% said they took no action to avoid disruption, compared with 44% who ensured they arrived at the port or station earlier.

Chart 10: Actions taken to avoid disruption when travelling internationally

What was done to avoid disruption?	Percent of respondents
Arrived at the port or station earlier	44
None of these	40
Stayed overnight near the port or station	17
Moved my travel day or time	11
Used a different mode of travel than I would have liked to or had originally planned	8
Changed which port or station I departed from	7
Cancelled a trip entirely	2

Likelihood of travelling internationally for leisure in the next 12 months

All respondents were further asked what the likelihood was of them travelling internationally for leisure in the next 12 months. The majority (70%) of respondents said that it was likely that they would make such a trip, however this was related to whether they had made a trip in the last 12 months. Of those who said they were very unlikely to make an international trip for leisure in the next 12 months, 92% said they had travelled zero times in the last 12 months. By comparison, of those who said that it was very likely they would make such a trip in the next 12 months, 38% had made three or more trips in the previous 12 months.

Chart 11: Frequency of international trips for leisure in the previous 12 months, and how likely it is they will make a similar trip in the next 12 months.

How likely are you to travel internationally for leisure in the next 12 months?	Zero trips in the last 12 months	One trip in the last 12 months	Two trips in the last 12 months	Three trips or more in the last 12 months	Total
Very likely	17	22	23	38	100
Somewhat likely	53	29	9	9	100
Somewhat unlikely	81	16	2	1	100
Very unlikely	92	6	2	1	100

Chart 12: Reasons why the respondent was not planning on making an international trip for leisure in the next 12 months

Reasons	Percent
I cannot afford a trip abroad	49
I prefer travelling in the UK	40
Difficulty travelling abroad due to me, or people I travel with, having a health condition or accessibility need	32
The friends or family that I travel to visit all live in the UK	27
Increased processing times at the border (either in the UK or abroad)	16
Concern about travel insurance or cancellations by travel providers	16
Concern that I, or people I travel with, will become ill abroad	14
Concern about conflict (for example, Ukraine and Russia)	13
Concern that I, or people I travel with, will not be able to get a valid passport in time	10
Another concern (not specified)	4
Concern about family responsibilities	4
Concern about my age	2
Concern about the environmental impact	1

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European Entry Exit System (EES)

The European Entry Exit System (EES) is due to be introduced in Autumn 2024 by the European Union. It is an automated IT system for registering non-European Union nationals, such as the UK, when they cross a border into certain European countries. Travellers will be subject to additional biometric data collection processes, including the collection of fingerprints and facial photographs, when undergoing border checks prior to crossing the border. This happens at the point of travelling, and does not need to be organised in advance.

For more information on the European Entry Exit system, please consult the guidance pages provided by the European Union, and from the House of Commons Library.

For more information on issues relating to travel to the EU, short-stays and living and working in the EU, please consult the Commons Library briefing paper, “After Brexit: Visiting, working, and living in the EU”.

Awareness of EES, and likelihood of travelling to Europe

Awareness of the EES amongst the respondents to NTAS wave 10 was generally low, with 69% hearing about this for the first time in the NTAS survey, and 4% saying that they had heard of it and knew a lot about it.

All respondents were asked if the EES would make them more or less likely to travel to Europe in the next 2 years, compared to now. Among those who had not heard of the EES before, 14% of respondents said it would make them less likely to travel.

Overall however, the majority of people said they would be just as likely to travel to Europe as before following the introduction of EES, with at least 63% choosing this option across all awareness levels. In addition, those who were not aware of EES prior to the NTAS survey were also more likely to say that they do not travel to Europe at all.

Chart 13: Awareness of the EES, and how likely the individual is to travel to Europe in the next 2 years

Awareness of the EES	Much more likely to travel	A little more likely to travel	About the same likelihood to travel as now	A little less likely to travel	Much less likely to travel	Not applicable – I don’t travel to Europe	Total
I have not heard of this before	2	2	63	8	6	19	100
I have heard of this before, but know little about it	1	1	70	10	5	12	100
I have heard of this before, and know a lot about it	0	1	67	6	17	9	100

Respondents who said that they would travel to Europe the same, or less, after the introduction of EES, were presented options about what, if anything, could concern them about the system. The majority of these respondents, 67%, said they were concerned about more queuing or document checking when departing from the UK. Slightly fewer (59%) were concerned about the amount of time or effort needed to complete the initial registration for travel into Europe. Just less than a third (31%) were concerned about the collection of fingerprints, and fewer (26%) concerned about the collection of facial photographs. A minority (15%) were not concerned about any of the options presented.

Generally speaking, those who were already aware of the EES were slightly less concerned about EES. Of those who knew a lot about it, 21% did not state any of the options stated as being a concern, whilst this was true of 16% of those who knew a little about it, and 14% of those who had not heard of it.

Chart 14: Concerns about the EES, compared to awareness of the system prior to the survey

Concern	Yes, and I know a lot about it	Yes, but only know a little about it	No, I have not heard of this before
More queuing or document checking when departing from the UK	69	66	67
The amount of time or effort needed to complete the initial registration for travel into Europe	49	56	62
The collection of fingerprints	34	27	32
None of these	21	16	14
The collection of facial photographs	18	23	27
Privacy or data protection and security	3	1	2
Other concern	2	0	0

All respondents were given a hypothetical scenario involving disruptions due to EES:

Imagine you were travelling to Europe by ferry via a car or coach, and before you leave home, you hear there is disruption to your ferry journey due to EES checks. What length of delay would make you postpone or cancel your trip?

In this hypothetical scenario, a small proportion of respondents (6%) would postpone or cancel for disruptions of up to 1 hour. Almost half (45%) of respondents would not postpone or cancel the trip if the delay were up to 5 hours. A small number of respondents (2%) said they didn’t know.

About these statistics

These statistics are official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. More information about these statistics can be found in the notes and methodology for wave 10 chapter.

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Contact details

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