Visitor attraction numbers draw closer to pre-pandemic levels

Visitor numbers to the UK’s leading attractions reached 157.2 million in 2024, according to figures published by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).

The total, which covers visits to 400 ALVA sites, is a 3.4% increase on visitor numbers in 2023 but remains 8.8% down on the 169.7 million recorded in 2019, the last year unaffected by the Covid pandemic.

ALVA director Bernard Donoghue said 2024 was a year of “steady but not significant growth” for most of the association’s members.

“The long economic recovery from lockdown during Covid, the effects of the cost-of-living crisis on consumer spending, increasing business costs and modest inbound visitor numbers to the UK mean that 2024 was a financially changing year for visitor attractions,” Donoghue said.

Donoghue also warned that increased National Insurance costs and a decrease in employer allowance threshold, alongside a rise of the National Minimum Wage, have “effectively wiped-out planned surpluses for many attractions, or derailed their investment plans”.

“For some, these unbudgeted unanticipated costs will result in cuts and job losses,” he added.

Most visited

The five most visited attractions went unchanged compared with 2023. The British Museum retained its position as the most-visited attraction, reaching almost 6.8 million visits for an 11% increase on its 2023 result.

In second place was the Natural History Museum, which also enjoyed an 11% year-on-year increase in visitor numbers, totalling just over 6.3 million. The most visited outdoor attraction, Windsor Great Park, stayed in third place overall, with over 5.6 million visits.

Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre continued to round out the top five, with 4.6 million and 3.7 million visits respectively.

The National Museum of Scotland remained the most visited tourist attraction outside London and the South East of England, placing 11th with 2.3 million visits, a 6% increase on 2023.

Titanic Belfast was the most visited attraction in Northern Ireland, placing 35th overall with over 881,500 visits for a 10% year-on-year increase. St. Fagans National Museum of History was the most visited Welsh attraction on the list, placing 62nd overall with just over 600,000 visits.  

Notable increases

While London continues to dominate the top of the leaderboard, boasting 16 of the 20 most visited attractions, areas outside of the capital saw a greater increase in visitor numbers last year.

Analysis by ALVA indiates the typical London attraction saw a 3% increase in visitor numbers last year, while attractions in Scotland and Northern Ireland enjoyed an average 3.2% growth in numbers.

The region of England outside London with the biggest growth was the East Midlands, where visitor numbers were up 4.5%, followed by Yorkshire and Humberside, which saw a 4.2% growth in visitor numbers.

Notable increases in England included the Museum of Liverpool, which enjoyed a 19% increase in visitor numbers to move up 12 places in the ranking to 41st. Elsewhere, Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum saw a 27% increase in visitors and Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery recorded a 57% year-on-year increase in visits.

Among the largest percentage increases in Scotland was Craigievar Castle, part of the National Trust for Scotland, which experienced a 285% rise in visits after a period of closure for repairs. In Northern Ireland, Hillsborough Castle, belonging to the Historic Royal Palaces, saw the largest percentage increase in visits, at 20%.

Back in London, the National Portrait Gallery saw a 36% increase in visits in 2024 following its reopening mid-way through 2023, while the Young V&A enjoyed a 47% rise in visitor numbers in its second year since reopening.