Visitor Attraction Trends in England 2024

Historic attractions in England reported a 3.1% increase in total visits from 2023 to 2024 – slightly more than the 1.4% increase reported by the wider England attractions market. This represents slower, but continued, growth following the significant drop in admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

England’s historic attractions benefitted from the continued recovery in inbound tourism in 2024, reporting a 15% increase in Overseas visits compared with 2023, however, visits from the Domestic market were down 1%.

Limited growth in visits to attractions in 2024 is set against the backdrop of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. With domestic visits continuing to account for around three-quarters of admissions to historic attractions in 2024, this is consistent with the wider market trend reporting a decrease in both England domestic tourism day visits and domestic overnight trips in England (source: VisitEngland GBTS).

Historic attractions remain short of 2019 visit levels, down 9%, however, they do outperform the wider attractions sector which remained down 27% on 2019 levels.

Overall, there was a 10% increase in the number of school visits to historic attractions. This is higher than observed in the wider attractions sector and is a continued increase despite challenging market conditions, albeit at a slower rate than other years of post-pandemic recovery.

Gross revenue at historic attractions increased by 5% in 2024, however, continuing the observation made in 2023, the impact of rising costs (staff, energy, supplier costs etc.) will continue to somewhat offset the higher revenue meaning the impact on profit margins is likely to be more modest.

Adult peak season entrance prices rose by 7% in 2024 to an average price of £12.42. Historic attractions were more likely to charge for entry compared with the wider attractions sector, with 79% of sites doing so compared with 66% among all attractions. Adult entrance prices averaged £12 or less in the Midlands and the North of England whilst prices were higher in the South and East, averaging almost £13. The average adult admission charge for historic attractions in London continued to stand out, averaging £17.49. Child admission charge at historic attractions in 2024 averaged £7.20, around £1 lower than the wider attractions sector average.

The proportion of historic attractions reporting marketing spend had increased in 2024 compared to 2023 is lower than in other post-pandemic years. 22% of attractions reported an increase compared to their marketing budgets in 2023, 9% reported a decrease.

Most historic attractions used some form of social media in 2024 (93%). Facebook continues to be the most commonly utilised (87%), followed by Instagram (72%) and E-newsletters (58%). Use of X (formerly Twitter) declined in 2024.

Overall ‘Online booking’ is offered by just over half of attractions, though this did vary across attraction categories, ranging between 42% to 89%.

2024 saw increased proportions of historic attractions, compared to in 2023, report they had been affected by each of: rising energy costs (74%), rising supplier costs (80%) and rising staff costs (69%). Sites have continued to find it difficult to absorb these costs with ‘increasing costs to visitors’ and ‘reduced income for site’ reported as key impacts.

Around two-thirds of historic attractions engaged in recruitment in 2024, and of those just under half experienced difficulty recruiting the right people for the roles. ‘Strain on existing staff members’ was a key impact of recruitment challenges, with some reports impacts extended directly to visitors too through the resulting reduced services sites were able to offer.

Notable proportions of historic attractions are striving to enhance their accessibility provisions. For each of: ‘Improving the built environment, amenities and services’; ‘Providing staff with specific training’ and ‘Improving the information, marketing and digital inclusion’. Around a quarter of historic attractions reported each of these had been implemented within the last 12-months and around a further quarter said they had clear plans to include them in the future.

In terms of the broader impact of their organisation, over three-quarters of historic attractions across England reported having one or more strategies in place to embed regenerative tourism / sustainable practices. Having an ‘Environmental Strategy’ was the most commonly reported (63%), but also ‘social’ and ‘governance’ strategies are each in place at around half of attractions.

In terms of specific sustainability measures at historic attractions the most common measure that attractions have already implemented is low energy lighting (76%), followed by adjustable thermostats (61%). Compared to 2023, significantly more sites are already encouraging staff/visitors to travel via public transport and/or have implemented draft proofing/ stripping.

Overall, just over a third of historic attractions invested in changes to save energy or reduce their carbon footprint in 2024 (36%). Among historic attractions who invested in energy saving/ carbon footprint reduction measures, the proportion that did so using public funding / grants increased to around a quarter in 2024, from 14% in 2023, although the majority did still self-finance.

Almost half of respondents who had not used public funding/grants in 2024 said were not aware of the government funding available to support sites investing in energy-saving measures. While it is possible that others within the organisation who did not contribute to the survey may know about this funding, there remains an opportunity to promote this funding more widely.