'Leap' in visits to London

Leisure Report, May, 2008

New figures from Visit London show visits to museums, galleries and other attractions in the capital grew in February. Warm weather and an extra opening day due to the leap year boosted visitor numbers by 7.3% compared to the same month last year.

Paid attractions performed particularly well with visitor numbers rising by 14.5%--the second month in a row of strong growth. Free attractions saw numbers increase by 4.7%.

Large attractions, those with more than 100,000 visits per annum, saw increased visits--up by 7.6%. Small attractions saw a more modest increase in attendance of 0.4%.

Visit London chief executive James Bidwell said: "These results show that the quality of London's attractions continue to inspire. The Chinese Terracotta Warriors exhibition at the British Museum, which finished last month, saw over 850,000 visitors to the exhibition--a record result for one of the capital's leading attractions. London's tourist experience is second to none and we will continue to attract and enthuse millions of visitors from across the UK and overseas."

The figures, published in Visit London's London Attraction Monitor, show that the capital has enjoyed a three-month upward trend in attendances since December 2007. Visits to attractions are up by 2.4% from last year.