London 2012 causes fall in museum attendance

Museums in London suffered dramatic falls in visitor numbers in the run-up to the Olympics, with some as much as 40% down on last year.

Central London was the worst hit: the British Museum lost 169,970 visitors in July, while the number of visitors to paid-for exhibitions at Tate Modern and Tate Britain fell in the first week of August.

The number of visitors to the National Portrait Gallery fell by 58,461 in July compared with 2011, while the National Gallery had 40% fewer visitors in the first week of August.

In west London, the Natural History Museum reported about 8,000 fewer visitors during June and July.

In south-east London, the National Maritime Museum, part of the Olympic equestrian arena, changed its opening hours to encourage spectators to visit the museum but still lost 11,167 visitors in July. It did, however, welcome an extra 63,356 visitors in June.

In east London, the picture was mixed. The Museum of London (MoL), excluding MoL Docklands, which housed the German National Olympic Committee during the Olympics, lost 8,264 visitors in July, although it reported a pre-games surge.

At the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, visitors were down by 12% in the first week of August. As Museums Journal went to press, the museum predicted its August total could fall by as much as 20%.

Only Hackney Museum was bucking the trend in the east, with an increase of 291 visitors in June and 558 in July. Takings at the museum shop almost doubled.

At its venues across the city, Historic Royal Palaces reported a 2% drop in total visitors from April to July.

The Olympics has also had some effect beyond London. At Much Wenlock in Shropshire, the self-proclaimed birthplace of the modern Olympics, the local museum reported 9,647 visitors in July, about three times as many as usual.

Museum assistant Sue Tipper attributed the rise partly to press attention from across the world.

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Venue
British Museum    
Comparison with July 2011
-25%

Venue
National Portrait Gallery
Comparison with July 2011
-27%

Venue
Museum of London (excluding Museum of London Docklands)
Comparison with July 2011
-23%

Venue
National Maritime Museum
Comparison with July 2011
-10%

Venue
Museum of Childhood
Comparison with July 2011
-9%

Venue
Hampton Court Palace
Comparison with July 2011
-30%

Venue
Tower of London
Comparison with July 2011
-29%

Venue
Hackney Museum    
Comparison with July 2011
+25%

Venue
Much Wenlock Museum
Comparison with July 2011
+300%