CONGRATULATIONS LONDON …at the moment, we are top of the tree when it comes to who has the best booty to offer in the department of tourism in the whole of the world. Yes, that is right, dear old Boris and his family of bikes, has to take some credit, as the Mastercard Global Cities Index report recently put London ahead of Bangkok, New York and Paris in the world rankings.
Its’ still the Europeans who love us most, followed by the Rest of the World, and then the Americans are quite keen too (still looking for Princess Diana tea towels I bet).
Get this stat; 123,000,000 visitors passed through the doors of some of the most famed attractions in 2014, a record 6.5 % increase on the previous year.
It seems the 3 key ingredients needed to bring you popularity in the playground for culture, sticking and craft college, is as follows;
1) In the Museum Dept, book a blockbuster exhibition, think Matisse, Rembrandt, or Alexander Mqueen.
2) In the ‘hands-on exhibits’ Dept, make sure you tie in your exhibits with the curriculum, or at least have a space large enough to lose a few primary schools, visiting groups of Italian kids and ladies from the Cobham Bridge club.
3) In the ‘I need a rest and don’t want my packed lunch’ Depot, you have to have space for a decent (double espresso essential) cafe, a posh restaurant for the Telegraph readers, and a cracking architect firm that BBC4 will commission a documentary on.
So with a small drum roll, here is your list with a few stats (2014) for good measure. For those that don’t like waiting in a queue, (or a full buggy-park) I advise that you set off at the crack of dawn (and book where needed) if you want to visit these attractions in the school holidays.
1) British Museum 6,695,213 visitors
2) The National Gallery 6,416,724 visitors
3) Southbank Centre 6,255,799 visitors
4) Tate Modern 5,785,427 visitors
5) Natural History Museum 5,388,295 visitors
6) Science Museum 3,356,072 visitors
7) V&A South Kensington 3,180,450 visitors
8) Tower of London 3,075,950 visitors
9) Somerset House 2,463,201 visitors
10) The Library of Birmingham 2,414,860 visitors
The visiting numbers are pretty impressive aren’t they? Let me know your favourite spots around town, as I quite fancy building up my own survey of some of those 6 million or so museum lovers out there… firstly, which is your favourite teeny tiny exhibit in The British Museum?
If you fancy a bit of Bus Stop Fun, check my Instagram, there’s all sorts of crazy stuff on there from our many days out around town.
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Some of the stats from The very kind BBC Entertainment & Arts section of their website here and from ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) here.
Further reading from The Telegraph here.
Images courtesy of Press Dept of Museums and LondonandPartners.com
Creative Bus Stop 