Wet weather hits visitor figures (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Wet weather hits visitor figures

4:40pm Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News By Mark Foster

THE wet weather over the last year has been blamed for a drop in attendance at some of the region’s major tourist attractions.

Gardens and outdoor attractions were the main losers when it came to visitor numbers nationwide, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

Its members include the UK's most popular, and important museums, galleries, palaces, castles,  historic houses, and heritage sites among others.

And announcing its members’ annual visitor figures, it said the poor weather was a major factor in falls in numbers across the country.

A spokeswoman said: “It was the weather rather than the Olympic and Paralympic Games that took its toll on full-year visitor numbers.”

The rising cost of petrol and diesel was another factor, which had particularly affected attractions away from urban areas which needed to be visited by car.

The association said Clifford’s Tower in York experienced an 11.7 per cent fall to 103,000 visitors, while Castle Howard, near Malton, saw a 9.4 per cent drop to 222,000.

Visitor numbers at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, near Ripon, fell by 6.2 per cent to 330,000 and Whitby Abbey saw a drop of 5.6 per cent to 112,000.

However there were some brighter notes, with the National Railway Museum in York up by 0.6 per cent to 716,000 and RHS Garden Harlow Carr at Harrogate up by 7.9 per cent to 320,000.