My April edition of Museums Journal arrived in the post late last week, which included a report on UK visitor statistics that have recently been released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).
Topping the list was the British Museum, with over 5.8 million visits, up 4.9% on the previous year. Coming in second was Tate Modern, which saw a 7% increase to see them topping the 5 million visitor mark.
Below are the ALVA figures for (its member) sites attracting over 1,000,000 visitors in 2010 (the full list is here):
| SITE | TOTAL VISITS | CHARGE/ FREE | % +/- | |
| 1 | British Museum | 5,842,138 | F | +4.9% |
| 2 | Tate Modern | 5,061,172 | F | +7% |
| 3 | National Gallery | 4,954,914 | F | +3.7% |
| 4 | Natural History Museum | 4,647,613 | F | +13.2% |
| 5 | Science Museum (South Kensington) | 2,751,902 | F | -0.5% |
| 6 | V&A (South Kensington) | 2,629,065 | F | +16% |
| 7 | National Maritime Museum | 2,419,802 | F | +2.19% |
| 8 | Tower of London (HRP) | 2,414,541 | C | +1.04% |
| 9 | St Paul’s Cathedral | 1,892,467 | F/C | +4% |
| 10 | National Portrait Gallery | 1,819,442 | F | -7% |
| 11 | Tate Britain | 1,665,291 | F | +11% |
| 12 | British Library | 1,454,612 | F | +5% |
| 13 | Westminster Abbey | 1,394,427 | F/C | -3.8% |
| 14 | National Galleries of Scotland (Edinburgh sites) | 1,281,465 | F/C | +10.18% |
| 15 | Old Royal Naval College Greenwich | 1,274,957 | F | +28% |
| 16 | Edinburgh Castle (Historic Scotland) | 1,210,248 | F/C | +1% |
| 17 | Chester Zoo | 1,154,285 | C | -6.8% |
| 18 | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | 1,141,973 | C | -12.19% |
| 19 | Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum (Glasgow) | 1,070,521 | F | -21.75% |
| 20 | Imperial War Museum (London) | 1,069,358 | F | +21% |
| 21 | Roman Baths & Pump Room, Bath | 1,054,621 | C | +2% |
| 22 | Canterbury Cathedral | 1,033,463 | F/C | +2% |
| 23 | Merseyside Maritime Museum | 1,027,475 | F | +9% |
| 24 | ZSL London Zoo | 1,011,257 | C | -4.95% |
| 25 | Stonehenge (EH) | 1,009,973 | C | +2% |
| 26 | Eden Project | 1,000,511 | C | -2.7% |
Overall there is an increase in visitor numbers, but there is considerable variation across sites. The Imperial War Museum, Natural History Museum and the V&A have all seen large increases (perhaps there were significant redevelopments which opened last year?); others were relatively stable (e.g. the Science Museum and the Tower of London), and others again saw significant decreases in attendance (e.g. National Portrait Gallery and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). I was particularly surprised to see the drop in visitors to Kelvingrove Museum (down 21.75%) – perhaps there is a rebound effect if 2009 was an unsually high year for some reason? If anyone has some details which can help explain the numbers (I feel I’m a bit out of the loop with UK happenings these days), please add your comments below.
It’s probably also worth noting that eight of the top ten attractions have free entry, and apparently UK Culture Minister Ed Vaisey has released figures showing a trebling of visits to free museums since 1990 (MJ, p7).
ALVA do not report whether the increase in visitors is primarily due to local or international visitors (this is probably not recorded at many individual museums). It would be interesting to know whether the increase in museum visits is a manifestation of the ‘staycation’ phenomenon – more people holidaying closer to home in a tighter economy, or more international tourists taking advantage of the relatively weak GBP and visiting the UK.