Two Jiangsu museums in the Top 20 worldwide
World's infrastructure consulting firm AECOM together with Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) released Theme Index and Museum Index 2023: The Global Attractions Attendance Report recently. Seven Chinese museums have made it into the Top 20 Museums Worldwide, Nanjing Museum and Suzhou Museum are among the Top 10.
Nanjing Museum is ranked 8th in terms of total attendance in 2023, reaching over 5 million with a year-on-year increase of 211%.
Nanjing Museum (Photo/VCG)
Suzhou Museum is a new entrant to this list with 4.9 million visitors in 2023, ranking 10th and seeing a year-on-year increase of 242.4%. Architecture is one of the most unique aspects of this museum, which was designed by world-renowned architect I.M. Pei incorporating modern architecture into classical Suzhou gardens and combining innovation with tradition.
According to the report, the 2023 Museum Index in the Asian region is really the story of China. In 2023, Chinese museums tracked by this index gained significant ground on the global list, contributing substantially to the market growth of the Asia-Pacific region. Other Chinese museums ranked in the Top 20 worldwide include the National Museum of China, the China Science Technology Museum, Hunan Museum, Hubei Provincial Museum, and Guangdong Province Museum. Chinese museums also occupy 14 of the top 20 Asia-Pacific regional list positions. It is analyzed that this phenomenon is due to the post-pandemic museum boom in China, the easing of advance booking requirements and the government's plan to become a museum powerhouse by 2035.
The Global Attractions Attendance Report started as just a report on major USA theme parks, with additional regions (EMEA, Asia, Latin America) and attraction types (water parks, museums) added over time. Inclusion in the annual Theme Index and Museum Index is now seen as a benchmark of success among operators, parks, and museums.