Visitor attractions across London welcomed 67.64 million people in 2018, according to statistics released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) today. With the top 10 attractions based in London, and an increase of 3.37 percent in visitors, 2018 has been another successful year for the UK capital.

Laura Citron, CEO of London & Partners, which runs VisitLondon said, “I am delighted that this data shows London’s world-famous attractions continuing to entice and captivate visitors from all over the world. London’s attractions are so important to our global appeal, with London recently being named World’s Best Destination 2019 in the TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice awards. We have an exciting year ahead, with major events such as the Cricket World Cup, city-wide projects like the magical Illuminated River display, Van Gogh at Tate Britain and Mary Poppins on stage - to name just a few!”

The most visited attraction in the UK last year was the Tate Modern gallery, with 5.87 million visitors passing through its doors. This could be linked to the 2016 Switch House extension, which is still drawing attention, as well as the hugely popular exhibition Picasso 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy. The British Museum saw a slight decrease (1.3 percent) in visitor numbers, putting it in second place with a total of 5.8 million visits, although the public had the opportunity to see some of its objects outside of London in 2018 through major touring exhibitions.

With a visitor increase of 9 percent, the National Gallery remained in third place with 5.7 million visits after staging the works of the ‘father of impressionism’ in Monet & Architecture - the first exhibition devoted to Claude Monet’s relationship with architecture. (Tianxing Bai)