Tourist attractions see fall in visitor numbers

9:13am Tuesday 12th March 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

SOME of York and North Yorkshire’s biggest tourist attractions saw a drop in visitor numbers last year in the wake of the wet weather.

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), announcing its members’ annual visitor figures, said the poor weather was a major factor in falls in numbers across the country, particularly with gardens and outdoor attractions.

A spokeswoman said: “It was the weather rather than the Olympic and Paralympic Games that took its toll on full-year visitor numbers, and of the 30 attractions (nationwide) that saw a double-digit decline – 27 of these were either gardens or outdoor attractions.”

It said the rising cost of petrol and diesel was another factor, which had particularly affected attractions away from urban areas which needed to be visited by car.

The association said Clifford’s Tower in York experienced an 11.7 per cent fall to 103,000 visitors, Castle Howard, near Malton, saw a 9.4 per cent drop to 222,000 and visitor numbers at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, near Ripon, fell by 6.2 per cent to 330,000.

Meanwhile, Whitby Abbey saw a drop of 5.6 per cent to 112,000 and Harewood House, near Wetherby experienced a 25.6 per cent decrease to 186,000.

There were some brighter notes, with the National Railway Museum in York up by 0.6 per cent to 716,000 and RHS Garden Harlow Carr at Harrogate up by 7.9 per cent to 320,000.

The actual figures

Harewood House....186,000 visitors (-25.6%)

Clifford’s Tower....103,000 visitors (-11.7 per cent)

Castle Howard....222,000 visitors (-9.4 per cent)

Fountains Abbey....330,000 visitors (-6.2 per cent) Whitby Abbey....112,000 visitors (-5.6 per cent)

National Railway Museum.... 716,000 visitors (+0.6 per cent)

RHS Harlow Carr.... 320,000 visitors (+7.9 per cent)

Comments(17)

roskoboskovic says...
9:39am Tue 12 Mar 13

if they did even the most cursory survey of visitors ycc would learn that nowadays people are very aware of parking costs,yet they continue to rise in york.now if,like alexander and his cronies,you have an anti car agenda,you would be very pleased to see visitor numbers falling.keep up the work lads,you ll have to find another excuse for when york turns into a ghost town.

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myselby says...
10:36am Tue 12 Mar 13

not the rain its the cost of entry and parking £16 + parking for Whitby Abbey
£30 for Harewood house - not a good value day out -

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Ignatius Lumpopo says...
10:44am Tue 12 Mar 13

myselby wrote:
not the rain its the cost of entry and parking £16 + parking for Whitby Abbey
£30 for Harewood house - not a good value day out -
Absolutely right. Even the NRM is cloying what it can back through charging for 'extras' that used to be part of the admission price.

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Garrowby Turnoff says...
11:20am Tue 12 Mar 13

Weather is the main factor. Last year no-one ventured out on many a wet weekend, even if the entrance had been free. Generally visitor attractions in Yorkshire are well worth the entrance fees.

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rattydriver says...
11:21am Tue 12 Mar 13

They need to do something to attract people, same stuff different place. Prices too high for exhibits that havent changed

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hokey cokey says...
12:38pm Tue 12 Mar 13

roskoboskovic wrote:
if they did even the most cursory survey of visitors ycc would learn that nowadays people are very aware of parking costs,yet they continue to rise in york.now if,like alexander and his cronies,you have an anti car agenda,you would be very pleased to see visitor numbers falling.keep up the work lads,you ll have to find another excuse for when york turns into a ghost town.
I didn't know that ycc controlled the car parks at Castle Howard, Harewood, Studley Royal and Whitby Abbey? I know they dont control the one by the NRM but I notice that the cost has gone up. So I am perplexed by your point of view.

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Davroshasissues says...
12:58pm Tue 12 Mar 13

There is no parking charge at Harewood as far as i'm aware, just pull up and park on that big field...or in the car park if you're a member.

and in Harewood's defence, it is a good day out if there is an event on.

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bloodaxe says...
3:20pm Tue 12 Mar 13

York Minster's visitor numbers were up 21% in the last quarter of 2012.

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bob the builder says...
6:12pm Tue 12 Mar 13

It could also be the fact that is as cheap to jump on budget airlines and fly to sunnier climes for a week than pay the the price of a wet weekend in ripoff broken Britain.

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CaroleBaines says...
6:39pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Chucked it down all spring and summer. Hardly surprising.

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Fourkov says...
7:19pm Tue 12 Mar 13

roskoboskovic wrote:
if they did even the most cursory survey of visitors ycc would learn that nowadays people are very aware of parking costs,yet they continue to rise in york.now if,like alexander and his cronies,you have an anti car agenda,you would be very pleased to see visitor numbers falling.keep up the work lads,you ll have to find another excuse for when york turns into a ghost town.
Stupid comment. Biggest drop is at Harewood. What's that got to do with York parking charges. Typical case of read an article and drawing a conclusion that meets a pre-conceived view regardless of relevance.

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bloodaxe says...
7:23pm Tue 12 Mar 13

Fourkov wrote:
roskoboskovic wrote:
if they did even the most cursory survey of visitors ycc would learn that nowadays people are very aware of parking costs,yet they continue to rise in york.now if,like alexander and his cronies,you have an anti car agenda,you would be very pleased to see visitor numbers falling.keep up the work lads,you ll have to find another excuse for when york turns into a ghost town.
Stupid comment. Biggest drop is at Harewood. What's that got to do with York parking charges. Typical case of read an article and drawing a conclusion that meets a pre-conceived view regardless of relevance.
You're too bright for this lark.

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strangebuttrue? says...
12:29am Wed 13 Mar 13

The cost of fuel has gone up the cost of public transport has gone up the cost of gas and electricity has gone up the cost of food has gone up the cost of parking has gone up the cost of park & ride has gone up entrance fees have gone up - wages have fallen. Now let me think – why are people not going out and enjoying themselves?

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airporttaxi says...
7:48am Wed 13 Mar 13

'Typical case of read an article and drawing a conclusion that meets a pre-conceived view regardless of relevance.' If that sort of thing bothers you Fourkov mate, I think you're in the wrong place.

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Magicman! says...
4:27am Thu 14 Mar 13

CaroleBaines wrote:
Chucked it down all spring and summer. Hardly surprising.
Well, we had roughly 14 days where it didn't snow.... as if by pure total natural coincidence those 14 days fell during the entire duration of the Olympics - as if there was absolutely no artifical control of the weather so that athletes from a certain continent didn't get wet.

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ChilliPepper87 says...
8:06am Thu 14 Mar 13

roskoboskovic wrote:
if they did even the most cursory survey of visitors ycc would learn that nowadays people are very aware of parking costs,yet they continue to rise in york.now if,like alexander and his cronies,you have an anti car agenda,you would be very pleased to see visitor numbers falling.keep up the work lads,you ll have to find another excuse for when york turns into a ghost town.
too right.

There are many other places that tourists can visit in the UK without having to pay 20.00 odd pounds for parking for the day...and with better shopping.

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ChilliPepper87 says...
8:07am Thu 14 Mar 13

Garrowby Turnoff wrote:
Weather is the main factor. Last year no-one ventured out on many a wet weekend, even if the entrance had been free. Generally visitor attractions in Yorkshire are well worth the entrance fees.
You would have thought that people would have gotten used to all this bad weather! It's been here for a looong time.People need to stop thinking that they're going to melt as soon as they get out their front door when it's drizzling.

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