Figures released yesterday show that most museums enjoyed an increase in visitor numbers in 2007, led by the British Museum which had 5.4 million visitors (up 12%). The British Museum’s success is partly down to its hugely successful Terracotta Army exhibition (see our review).

The Tate Modern was the next most visited museum, with 5.2 million visitors (up 6%), followed by the National Gallery with 4.2 million visitors (down 8%), the Natural History Museum with 3.6 million (down 4%) and the Science Museum with 2.7 million (up 11%).

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, which published the figures, pointed to the ‘wet summer’, which had a negative effect on outdoor attractions like Blackpool Pleasure Beach (which still received 5.5 million visitors, down 3%), although may have actually brought more visitors to museums. It also criticised the government for “refusing to “take tourism seriously”, citing a lack of funds to VisitBritain and high visa charges for foreign visitors. The association also suggested the weakness of the dollar against the pound may have put off American visitors, although the strong Euro may have compensated against this to a degree.