The British Museum held the record for the most visited attraction in the UK for 2024 for the second year in a row.
According to statistics recently released by Alva, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, the museum in London saw 6,479,952 visitors in 2024, an 11 percent increase compared to the previous year. The Natural History Museum in South Kensington was the second most popular attraction at 6.3 million visitors, also with an 11 percent increase compared to 2023.
Tate Modern was the 4th most visited with 4.6 million visitors. The Southbank Center, which includes the Hayward Gallery for contemporary art among its venues, had more than 3.7 million visitors, an increase of 17 percent compared to 2023.
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Alva’s announcement also noted a 36 percent increase in visitors going to the National Portrait Gallery last year with more than 1.5 million visitors after it reopened in summer 2023. This helped the museum move up nine spots in one year to 18th place. The Young V&A, which also reopened in June 2023, welcomed more than 596,000 visitors, a 47 percent increase.
Stonehenge also experienced a 3 percent increase in visitors, with more than 1.36 million in 2024.
The National Museum of Scotland was the most visited free attraction in Scotland with 2.3 million visitors, a 6 percent increase compared to 2023, while the National Galleries of Scotland recorded a record-breaking year with just under 2 million visitors, an increase of 9 percent.
The most visited attraction in Wales was St. Fagan’s National Museum of History with 600,690 visitors, followed by the National Museum Cardiff with 373,382 visitors.
Other art institutions also experienced large jumps in attendance. The Fitzwilliam Museum, the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, had its busiest year on record with more than 506,000 visitors, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, had more than 192,000 visitors, a 57 percent increase.
By comparison, Alva said the typical attraction in London saw a 3 percent increase, with attractions in Scotland and Northern Ireland witnessing a 3.2 percent increase in attendance.
Its director, Bernard Donoghue, acknowledged that most attractions in the UK had “steady but not significant growth” in 2024, due to the long economic recovery the Covid pandemic, the effects of the cost-of-living crisis on consumer spending, additional business expenses, and modest visitors to the UK.
In a statement, he said, “The recovery of visitor attractions and the broader cultural and heritage economies remains fragile, but visitors have shown that in their leisure spending they still prioritize day trips to loved attractions, they are keeping up their memberships of favorite organizations and they value spending special time with special people in special places.”