Follow the crowd

TOTAL visits to our popular galleries, museums, gardens and so on reached 146.6 million in 2023, an increase of 19% on 2022, but we’re yet to match pre-covid levels, at 11% lower than in 2019. The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions’s (ALVA) latest figures reveal that, although indoor attractions were 23% more popular, those outdoors were only up by 2%.

The British Museum has returned to the top spot with 5,820,860 visits, up 42% on 2022, possibly something to do with the success of the ‘China’s hidden century’ exhibition. The Natural History Museum came second, up 22%, followed by Windsor Great Park (the most visited outdoor attraction), Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre. In all, London saw an increase of 24%, followed by the East of England and West Midlands, up 11% and 10% respectively. Last year, National Museum Wales became an ALVA member and Wales’s numbers are up 25%; visits to attractions in Scotland and Northern Ireland both increased by 21%.

The coronation effect was felt at Westminster Abbey, with visits up by 49% to 1,587,866. Similarly, Windsor Castle saw a 66% increase and Buckingham Palace 75%. With its new adventure playground, Burghley House in Lincolnshire was up 86%, Stonehenge in Wiltshire jumped 36% and Bath’s Roman Baths and Pump Room 25%. St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff, was the most popular attraction in Wales, up 23%; the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, took the top spot north of the Border, as Titanic Belfast did in Northern Ireland, up 28%, in its most successful year since the anniversary of the ship’s sinking in 2012; Giant’s Causeway increased visitors by a sizeable 57% and Carricka-rede, Co Antrim, was up 83%.

‘Even in a challenging cost-of-living climate, visitors are still prioritising spending special time with special people at special places,’ says ALVA director Bernard Donoghue. ‘Although the extension of tax relief for museums, theatres and galleries was a welcome announcement in the budget, there was a missed opportunity to reintroduce tax-free shopping for overseas visitors, which would have improved the UK’S international competitiveness, and reduce VAT for tourism and hospitality, which would have helped businesses.’

The Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, was 57% more popular in 2023