Contact:
Julian Mattocks
Phone: +43-1-81140-308
E-Mail: mattocks@pressetext.com
| Pressbox | 
|
London (pte043/17.02.2005/15:30) - Britain's National Gallery http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk has seen a big jump in visitor numbers. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, five million visitors made the London gallery, which houses paintings like Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks, the UK's most visited museum in 2004. It recorded a 13.8 per cent rise in numbers and was the country's second most visited attraction, behind Blackpool's Pleasure Beach. The gallery's director Charles Saumarez Smith said he was "delighted". The figures were collected by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva).
According to Saumarez Smith, the number of visitors had boosted figures to pre-11 September 2001 levels. He added that the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square, where the gallery is located, and strong temporary collections throughout 2004 had led to the strong performance. "Our 2004 exhibition programme of El Greco, Russian Landscape in the age of Tolstoy and Raphael: From Urbino to Rome was particularly strong and exceeded all targets," he said. "The exceptional quality of the paintings in our permanent collection is also huge draw for the public. The expectations of today's visitors are higher than ever and we have kept pace with their demands." According to Saumarez Smith, the gallery can maintain the attendance. "With important exhibitions of the work of Caravaggio, Stubbs and Rubens in place in 2005, I am confident that the gallery is set for another highly successful year," he added.
Alva found that the figures had been boosted by an increase in Europeans travelling to the UK on budget airlines. Popular tourist spots such as the Tate Modern and the Natural History Museum all recorded increases of more than 10 per cent in visitor numbers compared with 2003. "Visits from Western Europe were up by 10 per cent and from North America by some 9 per cent compared to 2003, while numbers from the rest of the world rose 20 per cent," said Robin Broke, Alva's director. "European figures were helped by the rapid growth of low-cost flights to Britain from Europe, especially from the new EU countries," he added.
(end)
|
|
