Leading London attractions experience record increase in visitor numbers

Leading London attractions experience record increase in visitor numbers

Did you move to London thinking you’d be a tourist and visit all of London’s attractions, but never got round to it? Yeah us to, but as the latest figures show, time waits for no tourist local or otherwise.

Proving that little London 2012 event was not just a blip, London’s visitor attractions experienced a 12% increase in visitor numbers in 2013, according to statistics, released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA)  With all the top ten attractions being based in London, and the city on course to welcome more than 16 million overseas visitors in one year, 2013 has been a record-breaker for the capital.

The most popular visitor attraction in 2013 remained The British Museum which saw a 20% increase in its visitor numbers to 6,701,036 – making it the museum’s most successful year on record.

In 2nd place, was the National Gallery, which saw a 14% increase to 6,031,574 and in 3rd place, was the Natural History Museum, with 5,356,884.

London & Partners, Julie Chappell said, “London’s cultural offering is unparalleled. We have a fantastically diverse range of attractions that showcase not only the history and heritage of our city, but also the wide range of cultural attractions. As the home to some of the most significant museums and landmarks in the world, it’s not surprising that 76% of visitors to London come to enjoy its world-class museums and galleries.”

Bernard Donoghue, Director, ALVA,  also noted that: “London’s attractions had a fantastic year last year: new must-see exhibitions, great weather, superb new facilities like Tiger Territory at London Zoo, all contributed to record tourism figures – tipped to be nearly 16 million visitors in one year – for London. Overseas visitors especially love their time at London’s attractions and tell us that our museums, galleries and heritage are the number one reason to visit our city.”

Really these numbers aren’t a big surprise, especially considering many of them are branching out into offering compelling night time entertainment with the likes of Zoo Lates, Science Museum Lates and Somerset House’s gigs, films and fashion events to name a few.

The top ten attractions, amassing more than 34 million visits, are:

1. British Museum – 6,701,036
2. National Gallery – 6,031,574
3. Natural  History Museum – 5,356,884
4. Tate Modern – 4,884,939
5. Science Museum – 3,316,00
6. V & A – 3,290,500
7. Tower of London – 2,894,698
8. Somerset House Trust – 2,398,066
9. St Paul’s Cathedral – 2,138,130
10. Westminster Abbey – 2,020,637

How many have you visited and which ones do you recommend?

About Author

Adam (Editor)

Editor of this fine Blog and not surprisingly I love living in and blogging about London