Tourism economy in Milton Keynes valued at whopping £410 million
A new report had valued the tourism sector in MK at hundreds of millions of pounds.
With English Tourism Week 2026 staring tomorrow (March 13) March, Destination Milton Keynes (DMK), the city’s official tourism and information service, commissioned the report from Tourism South East.
It valued the tourism sector at £413 million for the city and shows this thriving visitor economy sustains over 14,000 jobs.
Last year, Milton Keynes was named the nation’s top city for ‘destination shopping stays’, firmly cementing its place as a destination of choice for city breakers, and the new report confirms this by showing direct tourism revenue into the city is driven primarily by day trips and domestic overnight holidays, with spend by day trip travellers at over £279 million.
This new report shows a marked increase in the value of the visitor economy to the city, with an 89% increase since the report was last completed pre-pandemic in around 2018.
In a tough period for the leisure and hospitality sector, the job market remains strong within the city, with over 14,000 directly related tourism jobs supported, across areas such as retail, accommodation, bars, restaurants and visitor attractions.
Over the next five years, Destination Milton Keynes will be working closely with Milton Keynes City Council and other stakeholders to further enhance the city’s tourism credentials, looking to promote Milton Keynes to a wider audience for both leisure and business visitors, and looking to capitalise on this sustained growth by capturing more overnight tourism to increase visitor spend even further.
Andrew Kirby, General Manager of Destination Milton Keynes said, “This report shows the visitor economy in Milton Keynes is thriving but at Destination Milton Keynes we have an ambition to push the message to a wider audience both locally, regionally and nationally. We want to continue driving up visits to our city, increasing the spend and creating even more jobs.” Cabinet member for Planning & Placemaking at Milton Keynes City Council, Cllr Shanika Mahendran, said: “These figures are fantastic news for Milton Keynes and really highlight the energy and ambition of our growing visitor economy.
"Tourism is creating thousands of jobs and bringing real vibrancy to our city, and we’re excited to build on this momentum with Destination Milton Keynes. With major opportunities on the horizon that will further boost regional tourism, we’re ready to make the most of this growth and welcome even more visitors to experience everything our brilliant city has to offer.”
For more information about Destination Milton Keynes (DMK) or find out about membership opportunities for your organisation, visit here or follow @DestinationMK on social media.
The organisation began as a group of private sector hospitality, culture, leisure and retail operators, working in partnership in response to a resources reduction from government. It quickly grew into a robust business and leisure tourism-focused organisation, delivering to the needs of the Visitor Economy and its stakeholders.
DMK produced the city’s first Destination Management Plan in 2014, and more recently a Tourism Strategy to help develop the Visitor Economy in all its forms.
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