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It's official - The National Waterfront Museum's best year ever!


C 11th April 2013

The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea is celebrating record visitor figures this year – its best ever since opening its doors in 2005.

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National Waterfront Museum

Reaching a total of 271,452 visitors, 6% more than last year, theNational Waterfront Museum, Swansea is continuing to grow, succeed and develop and position itself as a key cultural destination in the City and County of Swansea.

Some of the major highlights this year have included the refresh of Achievers Gallery to coincide with 2012’s big sports theme, a thriving all-year round events and exhibitions programme, creative initiatives for schools as well all hosting some major corporate events including the Dylan Thomas Prize Award and community events such as Chinese New Year.

But that is not all. 2013-14 is gearing up to be yet another exciting year with a new Made in Wales Gallery focusing on modern and contemporary collecting, dynamic exhibitions from Swansea Metropolitan University as well as everyone’s favorites events and regular workshops.

Speaking of the fantastic news, Head of the Museum, Steph Mastoris said:

“We are absolutely delighted with this achievement and extremely proud to be in a position to say that since opening eight years ago, the Museum continues to attract a diverse range of visitors.

“It just goes to show how the imaginative events programme, ever-changing exhibitions, creative opportunities for schools and overall customer service is continuing to go from strength to strength.

“We’re over the moon that we’re able to make such a positive contribution to the cultural offering here in Swansea and also the local economy by attracting people to the area.”

Success is also echoed across Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales as a whole with figures reaching a record high of 1.75 million visits in 2012-13 (+9% above target).

Over the last 12 months, Amgueddfa Cymru’s seven museums collectively welcomed over 50,000 more visitors than in 2011 – 12, with four sites enjoying their best years ever.

National Museum Cardiff, which has developed its offer with a new National Museum of Art, refreshed natural history galleries and a strong changing programme of exhibitions and family events welcomed a record 477,399 visitors. The number of visitors to the Cardiff city centre Museum has grown significantly over the last two years with an increase of 29% since 2010 – 11.

Playing an important role in the local community, the industrial National Wool Museum in Drefach Felindre attracted an impressive 34,309 visitors – an extra 3,931 visitors. The National Roman Legion Museum also achieved its best ever visitor figures, with 71,992 people welcomed by the Museum in Caerleon.

St Fagans: National History Museum’s successes came in July 2012 when it was given the largest ever grant awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales to redevelop the site, then in September when it was named the UK’s most loved museum by the consumer magazine Which?  In addition, 2012 – 13 saw the National Slate Museum celebrating its 40th Anniversary and the Olympic Torch Relay at Big Pit: National Coal Museum.

“In 2012, we celebrated 1.69 million visits as the highest total ever recorded since free entry was introduced in April 2001,” said David Anderson, Director General, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.

“I am delighted that we’ve succeeded in breaking yet another record this year, which is testimony to the quality of the service delivered by the Museums and the true value of the Welsh Government’s free entry policy.

“Breaking records such as these motivates us to continue to deliver for the people of Wales. We must remain relevant to all, not only appealing to our existing audiences but also attracting new visitors to interact with the national collections, which, after all belong to the people of Wales!”

Minister for Culture and Sport, John Griffiths, added: “Congratulations to Amgueddfa Cymru on these fantastic visitor figures. Our museums have an important role to play in profiling the culture and history of Wales locally, nationally and internationally.

“Free entry to the sites of Amgueddfa Cymru was introduced to enable everyone to enjoy the nation’s rich heritage of arts, sciences and social and industrial history.

“I am delighted to see that this policy continues to attract visitors to Amgueddfa Cymru and in turn our rich cultural history.”

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff; St Fagans: National History Museum; National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon; Big Pit: National Coal Museum; Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre; National Slate Museum, Llanberis;National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.

Admission to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Government.