By Tracy Kahaner, Director, Kahaner Research.
Related: January 2010: Smithsonian attendance rebounds / March 2010: Museum attendance in San Francisco & Chicago
The Smithsonian is the world’s biggest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums , the National Zoological Park and 9 research facilities. Since 2009, when it was reported that the Smithsonian had a record year, with over 30 million visits, the 30.2 million generated in 2010 topped that.
The four Tate galleries – Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St.Ives, Cornwall and Tate Modern – attracted more than 7 million people last year and according to the Tate Organization the galleries were only designed to hold 4 to 5 million visitors.
Sources: Smithsonian Institute, Tate Organization and Kahaner Research