The VisitEngland Annual Attractions Survey 2024 reveals worrying picture for UK visitor economy
VisitEngland has published its 2024 Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions showing that visits to attractions across England saw a small rise in 2024 compared to 2023, and remained significantly down on pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, visits to attractions in England were up just 1.4 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023. When comparing to 2019, pre-pandemic, numbers were down 27%.
Here in Cornwall, the Eden Project attracted 673,625 visitors, down 6% on the previous year. St Michael’s Mount drew 408,399 visitors, which was a decline of 2%.
Here are some of the key findings from the full report:
Rising costs hit nearly every part of the experience and according to the data from the latest survey
International visitors are propping up the visitor economy - this is an area which has seen growth of 6% compared to 2023, with domestic visitors
76% of attractions were affected by increased supplier costs, 69% were hit by rising energy prices and 63% struggled with higher staff costs, up from 51% just two years ago
Many attractions raised admissions prices as a result of spiralling costs - with the average adult ticket price increasing by 7% to £12.21, and child tickets now averaging £8.04
Revenue grew by 8% - but with the rising running costs, the profit margin remains narrow.
The results are more positive for attractions investing in existing exhibitions and immersive wys to tell their stories as visitor numbers increased by more than 10%.
94% of attractions now use digital comms, led by Facebook (90%) and Instagram (71%).
However, online booking is offered by 57% - a surprisingly low number, and one that needs to change
Email newsletters remain a powerful marketing asset, and yet many attractions are not taking advantage of this warm relationship with subscribers, looking at ways to engage, re-engage and understand and meet their needs
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:
“With growth to our visitor attractions slowing it’s now more important than ever that we show our support for this important sector that contributes not only to local economies but to communities across England.
“As these survey results so clearly demonstrate, there remain challenges in getting our sector back to pre-pandemic levels and the cost-of-living impacts continue to bite.
“England’s first-class attractions, from our world-renowned museums, art galleries and historic houses to our places-of-worship, our parks and gardens, remain vitally important to our tourism offer to both international and domestic visitors.
“With summer on the doorstep and the school holidays fast approaching, make this the year you discover England’s fine attractions. Not only will you be giving our great attractions a much-needed boost, I know you will enjoy a fantastic day out with family and friends creating memories of a lifetime.”
Chief Executive of Historic England Duncan Wilson said:
“Heritage is so important to us all. It brings communities together, creating a sense of belonging and pride, and is a major contributor to our economy through domestic and international tourism.
“These survey results highlight the need to continue championing and supporting our shared local heritage. This year, we hope people discover new historic places on their doorsteps and continue to enjoy our valued heritage sites.”
The survey, which gathered information from 1,373 English attractions, shows that the growth seen was fuelled by overseas visitors. International visits to England’s attractions overall were up 6% last year compared to 2023. Domestic visits to attractions in 2024 meanwhile were down 1%.
Growth varied across the regions
Most regions saw a small increase in admissions. London’s attractions led with growth of 5%, largely driven by international visitors. Despite the increase the volume of attraction visits in London remains well below 2019 levels, down 18% overall. Three regions meanwhile saw small declines in admissions with one region on par.
Top attractions
The Tower of London was in the top spot in 2024 as the most visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England with 2.9 million visitors, up 4% on 2023 although down 3% on 2019. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was second with 2.3 million visitors, up 15 % on 2023 and Chester Zoo third with 1.9 million, on par with 2023.
The British Museum was the most visited ‘free’ attraction in England in 2024, with 6.5 million visitors, up 11% on 2023 and up 4% on 2019. Second was the Natural History Museum with 5.9 million visitors, up 4% on 2023. The third most visited free attraction in England in 2024 was the Tate Modern with 4.6 million visitors, down 3% on 2023.
Farm attractions and heritage sites continue to experience growth
he highest levels of growth were seen in the ‘Farms’ attraction category, with an 11% increase in visits in 2024 compared to 2023. ‘Visitor/Heritage Centres’ saw the second largest increase, up 6% on the previous year. ‘Places of Worship’ also showed growth in visitor numbers last year, up 5% on 2023. ‘Historic Houses/Castles’ saw a 3% increase in visits in 2024 compared to the previous year.
See the results of the VisitEngland Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions in 2024 including the top 20 ‘paid for’ and ‘free’ visitor attractions across England and the regional data.
Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, generating about £76 billion annually for the economy in 2024 in domestic visitor spending.
Information about the VisitEngland Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions 2024:
The VisitEngland Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions is carried out on behalf of VisitEngland by BVA BDRC and the 2024 report is based on a survey of 1,373 English visitor attractions.
View the full report and also on that page if you scroll down you will see a PDF of the lists of England’s Most Visited Top 20 Free and Paid Attractions for 2024 including regional lists.
The VisitEngland Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions is a self-completion survey. There is no obligation for any visitor attraction, or any parent company / group of attractions to supply data. In addition, visitor attractions have the option of taking part in the survey anonymously, meaning not all visitor attractions that participate in the survey are named in the report or included in ranked lists of attractions.
For a number of attractions, data has been included with kind permission of ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions), English Heritage, Historic England, The National Trust as well as several Local Visitor Economy Partnerships and destinations.
Historic England contributes to the funding of VisitEngland’s Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions.
Country Parks are included in the research if they meet our definition of a visitor attraction (i.e. that it would be feasible to charge admission for the sole purpose of sightseeing). In the context of Country Parks, this means that they should include a feature such as a botanical garden, historical monument or visitor centre. Due to the difficulty in gathering accurate visitor numbers at Country Parks they have been excluded from the most visited lists, but they are included in the Full Attractions Listing.
View VisitEngland’s latest monthly Domestic Consumer Sentiment research.
The £76 billion refers to domestic visitor spending in England in 2024.
