Lucketts Travel has said that many schools in its Hampshire operating area are choosing to visit local venues instead of big London museums, reflecting recent Government figures stating that the number of people visiting the UK’s major museums and galleries has dropped for the first time in almost a decade.
According to a report by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, nearly 1.4million less people walked through the doors of the institutions it sponsors, such as the Tate Modern, the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum. The Museums Association blamed security fears over terrorism and a possible lack of blockbuster exhibitions for the drop in numbers.
Lucketts said it has seen the trend reflected among local schools, but said a wealth of choice in the local area, rather than anything else, could be the reason schools are less inclined to visit London.
Paul Barringer, Group Sales and Marketing Director, said: “We are very lucky in this part of the world in that we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to museums. We have the recently renovated Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth right on our doorstep and new additions such as the SeaCity Museum in Southampton. Schools don’t need to go far to access exciting learning experiences and we’ve seen that reflected in our own figures.”
