Ironbridge tourism on the rise - but still some way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels

To mark English Tourism Week, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has released the visitor figures of its members, which include the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (IGMT).

The total number of visits to ALVA sites in 2023 saw a 19 per cent increase on the previous year but still represented a decline of 11 per cent from 2019.

Rises in visitor numbers for IGMT museums exceed that 19 per cent average, with increases ranging between 20 per cent for Enginuity and 57 per cent for Darby Houses.

Ironbridge's popular museum, Blists Hill, saw a 25 per cent increase to 165,604 visitors, making it the only museum in the trust to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Nick Ralls, CEO of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said: “We are delighted to have seen rises in visitor figures at our museums that exceeded the 19 per cent increase experienced by ALVA members collectively.

"It is particularly encouraging to see that visitor numbers at Blists Hill Victorian Town, our largest museum, have now almost returned to 2019 levels.

"However, there is no denying that we are still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic and that the cost of living continues to have a major impact on our visitors’ disposable income.

"As a charity, we rely largely on visitor income to fund our heritage conservation and education work, and we are therefore working hard to ensure visitor numbers continue to rise in 2024."

Bernard Donoghue OBE, director of ALVA, said: “Our members are not yet back to hosting the same number of visitors that they did in 2019, but they are really delighted that even in a challenging cost-of-living climate visitors are still prioritising spending special time with special people at special places.

“Whilst the extension of tax relief for museums, theatres and galleries was a very welcome announcement in the recent Budget, there was a missed opportunity to re-introduce tax-free shopping for overseas visitors, which would have improved the UK's international competitiveness, and reduce VAT for tourism and hospitality which would have helped businesses repair their balance sheets.”

Mr Ralls said he hoped the reopening of the Museum of the Gorge and various events across the trust's sites would help attract more people to the museum and the wider Gorge area.