Eighth and final season of Outlander set for UK premiere

The eighth and final season of Outlander premieres in the UK on Friday.

The time-travelling romantic TV series has had a huge impact on Scottish tourism since it was first broadcast in 2014.

Dubbed the Outlander Effect, it has led to a huge surge in interest and trips from the North American, French and German visitor markets to Scotland.

National tourism and events organisation, VisitScotland, recently published its travel trends report for 2026, which highlighted screen tourism as an enduring trend.

Named “Set-jetting plus”, the trend has been repositioned to reflect the added value and benefits that screen tourism has in Scotland due to the most popular productions, like Outlander, being intrinsically Scottish through their story or setting.

Jenni Steele, film and creative industries manager at VisitScotland, said: “We’re both excited and saddened to see the return of Outlander to our screens for the eighth and final season. It has been an amazing journey on-screen and off.

“We’ve enjoyed seeing fans flock to Scotland to create their own Outlander-inspired story, providing a huge boost to Scottish tourism and our wonderful sector.

“From season one, fans have had a hunger for our history, culture and, of course, our beautiful landscapes, and we know that desire to visit will last long after the conclusion of the series.

“The breadth of the filming locations and Scotland’s place in the storyline has helped support our work to spread visitors and the benefits of the visitor economy across the regions and seasons.

“Our own research shows that screen tourism is a long-term trend with one in five travellers, known as set-jetters, visiting locations and destinations many years after their screen appearance. This is particularly beneficial for Scottish tourism.

“Many of our most popular screen tourism productions are intrinsically Scottish and so fans get more out of their trip to Scotland by exploring our history, heritage and culture.

“These productions provide a platform for us and businesses to engage with captive audiences in those important North American and European markets.

“And while Outlander is coming to an end we still have season two of prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood to look forward to, offering further opportunities to capture the hearts of fans and travellers.”

The eighth and final season of Outlander premieres on Starz on Friday and on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK on Saturday.