VisitEngland: Visits to attractions still way down on 2019
England’s visitor attractions are still struggling to fully recover from the pandemic shutdown.
VisitEngland published its Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions for 2022 showing visitor numbers still significantly down on pre-Covid levels.
The survey shows that visits increased by 42% overall last year, but was still down more than a third on 2019.
The survey gathered information from 1,519 English attractions.
It also shows the impact of international travel reopening.
Overseas visits to England’s attractions were up 280% in 2022 compared to 2021.
Domestic visits last year saw a more modest increase of 24%.
London saw the largest regional increase in visits, driven by the return of international visitors.
Other regions in England saw average growth of between 16% and 42% for the same period.
Tourism Minister John Whittingdale said: “I encourage everyone to enjoy a day out at our attractions this summer to help bring this important industry back to full health.”
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said: “These statistics are a timely reminder of the ongoing challenges for the industry with many still rebuilding from the pandemic.”
The Tower of London topped the rankings as the most visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England with two million visitors, up 284% on 2021.
It still remains down almost a third on 2019.
Kew Gardens was next with 1.96 million visitors, and RHS Garden Wisley third with 1.5 million.
Topping the list of free attractions in England in 2022 was the Natural History Museum with 4.7 million visitors, up 196% on 2021.
Second was Brighton Pier with 4.6 million visitors, just 5% below visitation in 2019.
The British Museum attracted 4.1 million visitors last year.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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