Summer visitors up by 14% at English nationals
Latest figures show upward trend after a drop last year
Blockbuster exhibitions and a warm summer have brought significant rises in visitor figures at England's national museums and galleries.
Reversing last year’s decline in numbers, which was put down to Olympic disruption and bad weather, the latest figures show that institutions sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) saw their visitor numbers rise by 14% on average during May, June and July 2013.
Attractions in London saw the greatest rises, recording an average of 26% more visitors than last year. The British Museum, which benefited from its blockbuster show on Pompeii and Herculaneum, saw footfall increase by 41%.
The Victoria and Albert Museum’s David Bowie exhibition sold out almost every day, helping the museum attract 20% more visitors in May and June than 2012 (July figures are yet to be collated).
The Royal Museums Greenwich group, which was particularly affected by last year’s Olympic equestrian events, saw its footfall up 35%, while the Natural History Museum’s numbers rose by 17%, the Science Museum’s numbers were up 10%, and the Horniman Museum's numbers were up 5%.
Elsewhere, the National Railway Museum in York, one of three northern museums threatened with closure earlier this year because of a funding deficit at the Science Museum Group (SMG), saw its visitors increase by 49% after staging a series of events in July to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first world steam speed record.
Non-nationals also reported rises, according to the UK-wide Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), which said that visitor numbers at all of its members rose by 23% on average.
Alva director Bernard Donoghue said: “The combination of great weather, Brits choosing to stay at home and enjoy their own country, a relatively weak pound against the Euro and therefore our attractiveness for visitors from Euro countries, is proving to be a recipe for success.
“There is also clear evidence across the UK that investing in refurbishing museums, galleries and heritage sites attracts records visitors and benefits local economies.”
The Museums Association’s director of policy Maurice Davies said: “Among the doom and gloom it’s great to have some good news. I really get the sense that UK museums are more popular now than they have been at any time in the past 20 years.”
Not every institution saw their visitors increase; National Museums Liverpool, which had been boosted last year by the opening of the new Museum of Liverpool, saw its numbers drop by 20%.
The Royal Armouries in Leeds recorded a decrease of 7%, while numbers were down by 12% at Tate Modern.
Bradford’s National Media Museum, which is also part of the SMG, saw its numbers fall by 4%.
Update
12.09.2013
We said National Museum of Liverpool. This has been changed to Museum of Liverpool.
01.10.2013
The Horniman Museum asked us to include the following update after discovering a discrepancy in figures from DCMS: The recent story in Museums Journal on summer visitor figures has highlighted some errors in DCMS’s reporting of our figures, which they are now correcting for us. The true figures show a 5% rise in the Horniman’s visitor numbers for the period in question, rather than the 14% decrease noted in the article.
Reversing last year’s decline in numbers, which was put down to Olympic disruption and bad weather, the latest figures show that institutions sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) saw their visitor numbers rise by 14% on average during May, June and July 2013.
Attractions in London saw the greatest rises, recording an average of 26% more visitors than last year. The British Museum, which benefited from its blockbuster show on Pompeii and Herculaneum, saw footfall increase by 41%.
The Victoria and Albert Museum’s David Bowie exhibition sold out almost every day, helping the museum attract 20% more visitors in May and June than 2012 (July figures are yet to be collated).
The Royal Museums Greenwich group, which was particularly affected by last year’s Olympic equestrian events, saw its footfall up 35%, while the Natural History Museum’s numbers rose by 17%, the Science Museum’s numbers were up 10%, and the Horniman Museum's numbers were up 5%.
Elsewhere, the National Railway Museum in York, one of three northern museums threatened with closure earlier this year because of a funding deficit at the Science Museum Group (SMG), saw its visitors increase by 49% after staging a series of events in July to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first world steam speed record.
Non-nationals also reported rises, according to the UK-wide Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), which said that visitor numbers at all of its members rose by 23% on average.
Alva director Bernard Donoghue said: “The combination of great weather, Brits choosing to stay at home and enjoy their own country, a relatively weak pound against the Euro and therefore our attractiveness for visitors from Euro countries, is proving to be a recipe for success.
“There is also clear evidence across the UK that investing in refurbishing museums, galleries and heritage sites attracts records visitors and benefits local economies.”
The Museums Association’s director of policy Maurice Davies said: “Among the doom and gloom it’s great to have some good news. I really get the sense that UK museums are more popular now than they have been at any time in the past 20 years.”
Not every institution saw their visitors increase; National Museums Liverpool, which had been boosted last year by the opening of the new Museum of Liverpool, saw its numbers drop by 20%.
The Royal Armouries in Leeds recorded a decrease of 7%, while numbers were down by 12% at Tate Modern.
Bradford’s National Media Museum, which is also part of the SMG, saw its numbers fall by 4%.
Update
12.09.2013
We said National Museum of Liverpool. This has been changed to Museum of Liverpool.
01.10.2013
The Horniman Museum asked us to include the following update after discovering a discrepancy in figures from DCMS: The recent story in Museums Journal on summer visitor figures has highlighted some errors in DCMS’s reporting of our figures, which they are now correcting for us. The true figures show a 5% rise in the Horniman’s visitor numbers for the period in question, rather than the 14% decrease noted in the article.