A sector that people refuse to give up 

As Bernard Donoghue OBE, CEO of ALVA, put it, “Visitor attractions are the places that people prize most and provide the experiences that people, even in a cost-of-living crisis, are most loathe to give up. In a time of unpredictable futures, uncertain economics, global insecurities, economic challenges, and an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the UK public are more tactical than ever in deciding how they spend their leisure pounds and their leisure hours.

Even in a cost-of-living crisis, it’s clear that the last thing that people are prepared to sacrifice are day visits and spending special time with special people in special places.”

This makes 2025 less a story of recovery, and more a story of resilience. Visitors are thinking harder, planning more carefully, and making more deliberate choices, but they are still choosing to visit.

At the top of the table, the familiar names remain firmly in place. The Natural History Museum leads the rankings with an impressive 7.1 million visits, a testament to the strength of its offer and global appeal. Across the top tier, the combination of free entry, cultural significance and international recognition continues to deliver scale that few can compete with.

What’s changed, however, is the movement within that group. The British Museum has seen a slight dip, Tate Modern has softened, and the National Gallery has surged. The hierarchy may look familiar at first glance, but the behaviour underneath it tells a more dynamic story. Even the most established attractions are not immune to shifts in audience behaviour.

If one pattern has become undeniably clear in 2025, it is the continued strength of outdoor and flexible experiences. Windsor Great Park attracted nearly five million visits despite a slight dip, while RHS Garden Wisley saw significant growth. Hampton Court Palace and Glenfinnan Monument both posted strong increases, and Forestry England sites continue to perform consistently well.

This is no longer a leftover effect from the pandemic. It reflects a deeper shift in what visitors value. There is a growing preference for space, flexibility and experiences that can adapt to individual needs. Increasingly, a visit is not about a single fixed activity, but about the ability to shape a day out that feels personal and unstructured.

Across the ALVA members we support at Navigate, attractions welcomed a combined 14,025,508 visits in 2025, with average growth of 5.18%. This is particularly significant given the context of the year. Cost-of-living pressures have not disappeared, international tourism remains uneven, and external factors such as weather continue to influence performance in unpredictable ways.

Despite this, growth has been achieved, and that points to something more fundamental than recovery. As Simon Jones, our Managing Director at Navigate, explains.

“What we’re seeing isn’t luck or rebound, it’s the result of attractions getting sharper. Clearer positioning, better understanding of audiences, and more confident decisions about what makes a visit actually worthwhile. The places that are growing aren’t trying to be everything. They’re getting very good at being something.”

Across the ALVA members we support at Navigate, attractions welcomed a combined 14,025,508 visits in 2025, with average growth of 5.18%. This is particularly significant given the context of the year. Cost-of-living pressures have not disappeared, international tourism remains uneven, and external factors such as weather continue to influence performance in unpredictable ways.

Despite this, growth has been achieved, and that points to something more fundamental than recovery. As Simon Jones, our Managing Director at Navigate, explains.

“What we’re seeing isn’t luck or rebound, it’s the result of attractions getting sharper. Clearer positioning, better understanding of audiences, and more confident decisions about what makes a visit actually worthwhile. The places that are growing aren’t trying to be everything. They’re getting very good at being something.”

The direction of travel is clear. The sector is not bouncing back in a dramatic way, but it is becoming more stable and more defined. Visitors are still coming, but they are making more conscious decisions about where they go and why.

For attractions, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. Success will not come from trying to do more, but from being clearer about what matters and delivering it well.