Hand holds a clicker counting device on left of the image. In the blurred background on the right are people and products at a market.
Without visitor or volunteer numbers, you cannot fully assess the scale of your impact. © jedsadabodin wichai / Alamy Stock Photo
Without visitor or volunteer numbers, you cannot fully assess the scale of your impact. © jedsadabodin wichai / Alamy Stock Photo

Methods for Counting Visitors

Social impact is about the difference your work makes, so you need to know how many people you reach and impact. Without visitor or volunteer numbers, you cannot fully assess the scale of your impact.

If you are considering how to measure the number of people participating in heritage events and activities, use this page to find a list of options with their strengths and weaknesses.

Manual clicker counters

Use manual clicker counters just at key entrances. Consider doing your counting in timed shifts (for example, 15 mins per hour) for sampling.

Why it works

  • Cheap and simple
  • Good for small events, single entry points
  • Allows human judgment 

Watch out for

  • Labour-intensive
  • Can be inconsistent depending on who is clicking
  • Not scalable or reliable for busy events

Automated people counters

Automated people counters work well for attractions with clear entry and exit points, for example, indoor museums or historic buildings).

Tools available include infrared sensors, thermal imaging cameras, wifi tracking (via smartphones) and camera-based AI counters.

Why it works

  • Less labour-intensive
  • More reliable for busy events

Watch out for

  • Up-front cost
  • Can miss or double-count people if not set up right, for example, smaller people and children can be missed 
  • Wi-Fi tracking raises privacy issues under GDPR

Tickets and registration data

If your event uses tickets (even free ones), you can track entries via:

  • Booking systems (such as Eventbrite)
  • QR or barcode scanners
  • Wristbands/token collection

However, be aware that tickets issued will not match the actual attendance numbers. You may need to adjust visitor numbers based on no-show rates.

Other methods for gathering evidence