British Museum tops UK attractions list, but the effects of the pandemic still linger on
Official figures have revealed that the British Museum was – for the second 12 months in a row – the UK’s most-visited attraction in 2024. Whereas customer numbers for cultural sights are rising, nevertheless, the sector stays fragile.
The British Museum has claimed the highest spot as soon as once more because the UK’s most-visited attraction, with 6,479,952 individuals strolling by way of its doorways in 2024. That’s an 11% enhance on the earlier 12 months, and it’s the second 12 months in a row that the museum has topped the charts.
Simply behind in second place, the Pure Historical past Museum in London noticed the same 11% rise, welcoming 6,301,972 guests.
As for the broader image, the UK’s prime sights – starting from Windsor Nice Park to the Nationwide Museum of Scotland – noticed sturdy development.
In Scotland, Edinburgh’s Nationwide Museum of Scotland remained the highest attraction, transferring as much as eleventh place within the UK rankings with 2,314,974 guests – a 6% enhance. The Nationwide Galleries Scotland’s most important web site noticed 1,999,196 guests, reflecting a 9% rise, whereas Edinburgh Citadel adopted carefully behind with 1,981,152 visits.
In Northern Eire, Titanic Belfast held onto its place because the most-visited attraction, with a ten% enhance to 881,573 guests, rating thirty fifth total.
Wales noticed Cardiff’s St Fagans Nationwide Museum of Historical past cleared the path with 600,690 visits, inserting it 62nd on the record.
But it surely’s not all clean crusing for the sector. Total visits to 400 Alva (Affiliation of Main Customer Points of interest) websites had been nonetheless down by 8.8% in comparison with pre-pandemic 2019 figures.
Whereas sights like Buckingham Palace, which had its most visited summer season in historical past, are seeing a lift, the sector is much from secure. As Alva director Bernard Donoghue put it, “the restoration of customer sights and the broader cultural and heritage economies stays fragile.”
Donoghue, quoted by the BBC, acknowledged the continued “financial restoration” from the Covid lockdown and the affect of the cost-of-living disaster, noting – extra optimistically – that regardless of challenges, guests are nonetheless prioritising day journeys to favorite spots.
Even key cultural gamers are going through extreme monetary challenges, despite good customer numbers.
Tate, which operates 4 galleries in England (with Tate Trendy coming in 4th on Alva’s record), introduced a 7% employees discount earlier this month, equating to roughly 40 jobs, as they battle a monetary deficit worsened by the pandemic.
