Visitor Attraction Trends in England 2023
Each year, Historic England collaborates with Visit England to produce the Visitor Attraction Survey. The purpose of the survey is to monitor trends in the visitor attraction sector in England by asking attractions questions relating to the visitors, and their approach towards accessibility, sustainability, and organisational capacity.
The findings contribute to regional and national estimates of the economic impact of visitation to attractions and inform regional development and planning work. Historic England is most interested in visits to historic attractions, including:
- Castle/fort
- Garden
- Historic house/house and garden/palace
- Historic monument/archaeological site
- Heritage/visitor centre
- Place of worship
A total of 1432 English visitor sites participated in the survey. Of these, 673 sites were classified as historic sites. Over two-fifths of the historic sites lie in the south of England, mostly based outside London.
Key findings
Visitor Numbers
- Admissions to England’s historic attractions continued to increase in 2023.
- Average growth was 11%, which means that 2023 admissions at historic sites were 12% short of 2019 levels. However, historic attractions are outperforming the wider attractions sector, which remains 28% down on 2019 levels.
- Castles/forts reported the highest growth in admissions of 22% – double the average for all historic sites (11%).
- Historic attractions in London grew visitor numbers by 27% compared to 2022 (26% for the wider attractions sector).
- There was a major uplift in the number of visitors from overseas.
- There was a 76% increase in overseas visits to historic attractions compared to 2022.
- As we would expect, historic attractions in London reported the highest proportion of international visitors with over two in five visiting from overseas. The south-west also saw above average representation of overseas visitors (28%).
Revenue
- Historic sites are more likely to charge for entry compared with the wider attractions sector.
- Over three-quarters (77%) of historic sites charge for entry (compared with 66% of all attractions).
- In 2023, historic attractions saw a 10% increase in revenue compared with 2022, which is consistent with the wider attractions market.
- Most attractions felt the impact of rising costs on their finances, with this affecting more sites in 2023 than it did in 2022.
- Two in three historic attractions felt the impact of rising energy costs in 2023 and this resulted in reduced income for 47% of England’s historic attractions.
- Rising supplier costs are affecting most historic attractions (70%), and this has led to a third of attractions needing to increase costs to visitors (35%).
- Nearly three-quarters of attractions have an environmental business strategy.
- 73% of historic attractions across England had an environmental business strategy.
- The most common measure that attractions have already implemented is low-energy lighting (84%), followed by adjustable thermostats (72%).
Read the full report for 2023
Visit England’s Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions is an official statistic and is produced in adherence with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2009).
