Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The main aim of the United Kingdom Day Visits Survey, the Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), and latterly the England Leisure Visits Survey (ELVS), is to measure the extent of participation in day visits, and to estimate the scale and value of visits taken. In particular the principal investigators are interested in the extent of participation in different kinds of day trips, how frequently particular types of trip are undertaken, and associated expenditure.

The survey also seeks to provide information on a number of other trip details, such as activities undertaken, areas visited, time spent at the main destination, modes of transport, distance travelled, number of people involved and the trip party composition. Respondents to the survey are generally asked to recall trips taken within the past two weeks.


Unlike the 1994 survey which covered three types of UK day trips, the 1996 survey covered only home-based trips (i.e. trips made from home for leisure activities, which start and finish on the same day), and did not cover business trips or holiday-based trips.
Main Topics:

The following information is included:
a record of all day trips from home in the last two weeks to a town, seaside, countryside, wood or river;
details of up to 7 most recent day trips from home in the last two weeks;
details of recent day trips in the last 12 months to the seaside, a wood, or a river.
Standard Measures
Occupational coding of the chief income earner was carried out using the 1991 <i>Standard Occupational Classification</i> (SOC) published by OPCS. This was used to derive a social grade classification on the basis of the Market Research Society (MRS) <i>Dictionary of Occupations</i>.