NMW's best visitor figures ever

NMW's best visitor figures ever NEWS

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National Museum Wales (NMW) has said it has received its best visitor figures since the introduction of free entry in 2001.

Statistics show that the seven museums owned by NMW received a total of 1.69m visits in the past year alone. Heritage Minister Huw Lewis said removing entry fees had proved popular with both old and new visitors alike.

The National Museum of Art, opened in July 2011, helped contribute 50,485 more visits to National Museum Cardiff last year compared to figures in 2010/11.

Within 12 months the number of visitors had increased by 88%, according to NMW.

By 1 April 2012, 16.5m visits had been made over the 11 years.

'Striking the right balance between meeting the needs and expectations of existing loyal visitors and attracting new audiences has been critical both in terms of increasing the volume,' said director general David Anderson.

'But what really pleases me is the fact that it has also attracted completely new, harder to reach, audiences through addressing barriers to access such as poverty and social exclusion as well as encouraging tourists to visit Wales,' he added.

The policy was put in place eight months earlier than it was in England.