London. This summer, the Paris Olympics stole the spotlight from cultural institutions. The Louvre, among other examples, recorded a 22% drop in visitors between July 27 and August 11 compared to the same period in 2023. But this lack of interest from tourists during the sporting event is not a first. In 2012 in London, visitors also favored competitions over exhibitions. According to The Museums Association, it was central London, although far from the boroughs where the Olympics were held, that suffered the most from the international event. The number of visitors welcomed to the British Museum fell by 25% in July 2012 compared to the previous year. The Natural History Museum recorded a loss of 8,000 visitors in June and July. August was even more difficult for cultural institutions. The National Gallery attracted 40% fewer visitors in the first week of the month.
According to data from the Ministry of Culture, it was in August 2012 that the fifteen government-subsidized national museums experienced the worst attendance (4.49 million visitors) for that month during the decade from 2008 to 2018. July 2012 (4.11 million visitors) came in second place after July 2008 (3.97 million).
Exceptions related to the Olympic Games
Institutions outside London were also affected. Hampton Court Palace, southwest of the British capital, for example, suffered a 30% drop in attendance in July 2012, compared with the same month the previous year.
There were some exceptions to this trend. The museum in Much Wenlock, a town in the northwest of England, saw a 300% increase in attendance in July. The Olympic society founded by the small town in 1850 inspired Pierre de Coubertin to create the modern Olympic Games. Sue Tipper, the museum’s assistant in 2012, attributed the increase to the media coverage of the small town’s history. Hackney Museum, one of six London boroughs hosting the competitions, in the south and east of the capital, also saw a 25% increase in attendance in July. The museum had hosted the exhibition “Mapping the Change” just before the Games, a project looking at how the lives of people in east London had changed in the run-up to the Games.
But despite the summer slowdown for most institutions, 2012 was a positive year for the cultural sector, with museum and gallery attendance up 2%. Visit Britain, the UK’s tourist board, reported a 15% increase in visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum, an 11% increase to the Tate Modern and a 12% increase to the National Portrait Gallery. The organisation, however, did not mention the idea of catching up after the Olympic Games. Instead, it highlighted the weather as a side effect. And since 2012 was a very rainy year, museums and galleries are said to have resumed some of the outdoor attraction activities that had been neglected by the public.
