ALVA Press releases

MUSEUMS IN LIVERPOOL ARE THE MOST POPULAR IN ENGLAND OUTSIDE LONDON ACCORDING TO THE 2012 VISITOR FIGURES ISSUED BY ALVA

12 March 2013: One of largest increases in the UK of 53% was seen by the new Museum of Liverpool, which opened in July 2011. It attracted more than 1million visitors and was the most visited museum in England, outside of London.

This had a noticeable halo effect on the other museums in Liverpool such as the Walker Art Gallery – who credited their 40% increase in visitors numbers to the exhibition ‘Rolf Harris: Can you tell what it is yet?’ which ran from May through to August. The Tate Liverpool saw a 6% increase, while the International Slavery Museum saw a 9% increase and the Lady Lever Art Gallery increased their visitor numbers by 7%.

However, it was not only the Museums on Merseyside that performed well in the North West – with Chester Zoo being the most popular paid for attraction outsideLondon with 1,405,233 visitors, making it the 15th most popular attraction in the UK.

Dr David Fleming, Director National Museums Liverpool, said: "In 2012 National Museums Liverpool had our most successful year ever, with more than 3.3m visits. We attract more people now than we did during Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture five years ago, and nearly five times as many as a decade ago.

He continued: "We are thrilled that the Museum of Liverpool is the country's most visited museum outside of London. We are equally thrilled that it has been awarded the Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2013, proving that the Museum's success has been noticed internationally.

"Our eight museums and galleries are exciting and emotional places to visit - that's the secret of our success. We want our venues to inspire and educate, and also be fantastic for families. Across all our museums we like to try new things and reach new audiences. The big challenge is maintaining this success when public funding is shrinking."

For further information on ALVA and to download images,
please visit www.alva.org.uk
Twitter @alva_uk

For further Press Information and to arrange interviews, please contact
Rachel Aked
[email protected]
Tel: 07790 732448

NOTES TO EDITORS:
The members of ALVA are the UK's most popular, iconic and important museums, galleries, palaces, castles, cathedrals, zoos, historic houses, heritage sites, gardens and leisure attractions. The 44 members manage some nearly 2,000 tourist sites and welcome over 100 million domestic and overseas visitors each year; some 25% of the visits made annually in the United Kingdom. To qualify for membership, the attractions must host over a million visitors per year at their singly or centrally-managed sites.

March 2013

<< Back