Most visited tourist attractions in London in the UK 2019-2021

The Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew Gardens) were the most visited tourist attraction in London in 2021, welcoming nearly two million visitors. The Natural History Museum in South Kensington and the British Museum followed behind that year, recording around 1.6 million and 1.3 million visits, respectively. Overall, after decreasing sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the visitor volume of the leading tourist attractions in London rose in 2021, although it stayed below pre-pandemic levels.

The British Museum

The British Museum, which opened its doors to the public in 1759, attracts visitors from around the world for its wide-ranging collection of historical artifacts and works of art. Prior to the global health crisis, the visitor volume of the British Museum has totaled roughly six million since the fiscal year 2013/2014. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, the cultural institution reported only 160 thousand museumgoers between April 2020 and March 2021. As a result of the sharp drop in attendance, self-generated income from admissions to the British Museum fell to 300 thousand British pounds over the same period, the lowest figure recorded in the past decade.

Museums in the UK

The museum industry plays an important role in the United Kingdom’s cultural sector. According to a survey conducted in 2021 among international consumers, museums topped the ranking of the cultural products most associated with the UK. Moreover, the United Kingdom and Ireland placed ninth in the list of countries with the highest estimated number of museums worldwide in 2021.