According to the latest survey published by English tourism organisation, VisitBritain, visitor figures for UK attractions experienced an overall rise of 8 per cent in 2002, compared with reported numbers in the previous year.

The British Airways London Eye received the highest figures in the UK for an admission-charging attraction. Open to the public in March 2000, the wheel received a 6 per cent increase in 2002 visitors to 4.09 million, in comparison to the 2001 figures.

Another relatively new attraction, The Eden Project, has also experienced a rise to 7.8 per cent while the Tate Modern has enjoyed a 30 per cent increase, which has been attributed in part to the success of its Picasso and Warhol exhibitions.

However, core traditional and historic tourist places of interest such as the Tower of London and Canterbury Cathedral have experienced 3.9 per cent and 3.5 per cent downturns respectively, while the Royal Academy of Arts has taken a 12.8 per cent drop in figures.

According to VisitBritain, this is due to the location of the attractions and the fact that overseas visitor figures for 2002 had not fully recovered from the after-effects of either the foot-and-mouth disease or the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The top free-admission visitor attraction was Blackpool Pleasure Beach with 6.2 million visitors in 2002.

Alongside aggressive domestic marketing and an upturn in European visitors, overall figures for farm visits were up 50 per cent in 2002, wildlife attractions rose by 13 per cent and country parks also had a 13 per cent rise, all reflecting a steady increase in popularity from the previous 2001 figures.

The free admission policy that has been introduced by museums and art galleries has given London’s Science Museum 94 per cent more visitors with the Natural History museum also enjoying a 74 per cent rise.

Tourism minister, Richard Caborn, said: “The huge wealth of visitor attractions across the UK shows just how much we have to offer tourists from home and abroad. Attractions are at the heart of our tourism industry’s continuing recovery.”

VisitBritain has also announced new initiatives to woo overseas customers this week.

Currently, VisitBritain operates in 27 overseas markets and has revealed plans to enter four new markets within the year – namely Poland, Russia, China and South Korea. The 27 markets combined with the four potentially new markets equal 90 per cent of visitors to Britain.

Chief executive, Tom Wright, said: “Clearly we are operating in a volatile climate but we are confident that we are ready to react flexibly and creatively to changing situations.

“We are responding to current events by undertaking a £6m short-break campaign in the less-affected European market and, at the same time, we are developing a significant push to launch a campaign in the American market when the time is right. We have world class ambitions.”

VisitBritain has also recently appointed Jeremy Brinkworth as its new head of business tourism. Details: www.visitbritain.com