Roman Baths & Pump Room 50th most-visited attraction in the UK in 2021

Figures released today by the Association for Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) show that the Roman Baths & Pump Room was the 50th most-visited attraction in the UK in 2021.

The Covid-19 pandemic meant that the Roman Baths, along with other leading visitor attractions, closed its doors for nationwide lockdowns; the site was closed for 136 days in 2021. When open, the Roman Baths limited visitor numbers in order to help the public and staff stay safe.

This meant that the site dropped down the listing of most-visited attractions over the course of the pandemic from number 25 in 2019 and number 32 in 2020. Visitor numbers decreased from over 1.3m in 2019 to 351,655 in 2021.

This is in line with overall trends during the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw outdoor attractions dominate the most-visited list, while indoor attractions and those that usually rely on overseas visitors fell down the rankings.

Overseas visitors to the Roman Baths fell from about 40% of the total number in 2019 to 5% in 2021. Restrictions and uncertainty about international travel mean that overseas visitor numbers may take longer to recover – VisitBritain estimates that overseas visitors to the UK are not likely to return to pre-pandemic levels for a few years*.

Councillor Dine Romero, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Communities and Culture at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “These results are a sobering reminder of the ongoing impact that Covid-19, and the restrictions associated with managing the pandemic, continue to have on our local economy.

“The Roman Baths was sold out for much of the period that it was able to open, and over the past year it has been wonderful to see domestic visitors eager to visit the Baths and explore the ancient site; this indicates that the restrictions, which were essential to keep staff, visitors and residents safe, limited our rate of recovery last year.

“Nevertheless, the visitor demand points to the enduring popularity of the Roman Baths as one of the country’s leading visitor attractions and we hope to see a strong recovery in 2022. We are already starting to see the gradual return of international visitors and the green shoots of recovery although it will be a couple of years before we return to pre-pandemic levels.”

Find out more about Roman Baths: www.romanbaths.co.uk

Find out more about  The Pump Room: https://thepumproombath.co.uk/