UK tourism: Visitor attractions suffering long Covid - industry body

1 year ago 47

A bluish whale skeleton hanging successful the main hallway of the Natural History Museum

UK visitant attractions are suffering from "long Covid" owed to less tourists travelling from abroad, an manufacture assemblage has warned.

Millions returned to museums and galleries successful 2022 as Covid restrictions ended, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) said.

But less planetary tourists meant visitant levels were inactive astir a 4th little than earlier the pandemic.

The Crown Estate, Windsor Great Park, remained the astir fashionable attraction.

Indoor sites saw a 176% summation successful the fig of radical visiting compared to the erstwhile year, ALVA said.

For overmuch of 2021 facemasks and societal distancing had been required astatine wrong venues to forestall the dispersed of coronavirus.

Big London attractions with nary introduction interest similar the Natural History Museum, British Museum and Tate Modern saw their numbers retrieve by astir 200%.

Overall visits to British attractions accrued 69% compared to 2021, but they saw 37.8 cardinal less radical locomotion done their doors than successful 2019.

ALVA, which represents much than 2,200 sites, puts the 23% shortfall down to little levels of tourism, particularly from China and eastbound Asia.

Image caption,

The Crown Estate, Windsor Great Park, was the astir visited UK attraction successful 2022 - the twelvemonth of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee and death

Image caption,

The apical 10 database was dominated by London attractions, including the National Gallery successful Trafalgar Square

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

The Tower of London was the astir visited large attraction with an introduction interest successful 2022

Despite a precise engaged Christmas period, Bernard Donoghue, manager of ALVA, warned the manufacture was "still experiencing the tourism equivalent of 'long Covid'" due to the fact that of less holidaymakers coming to the UK.

Although determination are ongoing challenges, helium said helium was "confident that [tourists] volition instrumentality this twelvemonth and we volition spot a continuing steadfast recovery".

The figures besides uncover radical are opting for attractions which are escaped amid the cost-of-living crisis: places which charged an introduction interest saw a betterment of 101% - but escaped sites had a 183% increase.

Mr Donoghue besides said obstruction strikes had impacted radical visiting theatres - peculiarly implicit Christmas.

He added helium was assured the Chinese marketplace would travel backmost successful 2023, driving "really beardown growth".

London dominated the apical 10 database but fashionable spots astir the UK saw growth.

In Scotland, the astir fashionable attraction was the National Museum successful Edinburgh. In Northern Ireland, it was Titanic Belfast and successful Wales it was Bodnant Garden successful Conwy.