UK attractions draw more visitors
Coach operators could be among those who benefit from an increase in visitors to UK tourist attractions.
In its latest figures, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) announced an average increase of 8.68% on 2017 visits to UK attractions. Attractions in Scotland saw the biggest increase of 19.07%. Overall, 138m visits were made to the top 249 ALVA sites in the UK. London drew the most visitors last year, 67.64m people, seeing a 3.37% increase. The top ten most visited attractions were all London based.
The most visited attraction in the UK was Tate Modern with 5,868,562 visits. The most visited attractions outside London were in Scotland. In 11th place was the National Museum of Scotland who continued to be the most visited attraction outside London with a 3% increase and 2.2m visits. In 12th position was Edinburgh Castle with a 2% increase (2.1m). The most visited attraction in England outside London was Chester Zoo, which saw 1.97m visits and the most visited Heritage site outside London was Stonehenge with 1.56m visits.
Northern Ireland’s most visited attraction was the Giants Causeway, which had 1.01m visits.
One operator benefitting from this is Fareham-based Lucketts Travel. The company experienced a rise last year in the number of day trips it provided. It saw day trip passengers rise by 12% last summer compared to the same period in the previous year. More than a third of its coaches went out completely full and the company says 2019 is shaping up to be even busier.
Top 10 most-visited attractions in the UK:
- Tate Modern
- British Museum
- National Gallery
- Natural History Museum
- Southbank Centre
- V&A London
- Science Museum
- Somerset House
- Tower of London
- Royal Museums of Greenwich
- Have you noticed a similar increase? Or is it a different story for you? Let us know at [email protected]