Chester Zoo named England’s most popular attraction outside of London

Chester Zoo has been named the third most popular ‘paid for’ attraction in England after more than 1.9 million people visited last year.

New data, released by VisitEngland, has revealed the zoo welcomed 1,947,544 people in 2024, on par with the previous year’s figures (1,942,890).

The new numbers, which gathered information from 1,373 English attractions, rank the conservation-focussed zoo as the most visited ‘paid for’ attraction outside of London and third overall. The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was second with 2.3 million visitors.

The British Museum was the most visited ‘free’ attraction in England in 2024, with 6.5 million visitors. Second was the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) with the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) third.

Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, generating about £76 billion annually for the economy in 2024 in domestic visitor spending.

Dom Strange, Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, said:

“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation - and it all begins here in Chester.

“Whether it's caring for highly threated animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries - we're fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.

“None of this would be possible without our visitors. Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work. So, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.

“The more visitors we can attract to the zoo, the more species-saving work we can carry out. That’s why we’re constantly working to grow and offer new, engaging and meaningful experiences that help our visitors feel a real connection with the natural world.”

In April, Chester Zoo unveiled an immersive new experience named Heart of Africa – the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK. Home to 57 iconic African species, the 22.5-acre zone features a savannah, home to giraffe, zebra, roan antelope and ostrich, while other animals to encounter include naked mole rats, cobras and locusts as well as aardvarks, meerkats, warthogs, eastern black rhino, painted dogs and flamingos. Soon the zoo will also open its luxury short-break accommodation, 'The Reserve.’

The VisitEngland accolade follows hot on the heels of the zoo being crowed the best-rated zoo in the UK by Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform.

To see the results of the VisitEngland Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions in 2024 including the top 20 ‘paid for’ and ‘free’ visitor attractions across England and the regional data see: 

England UK Tourism Industry Stats & Data | VisitBritain.org

Pictured - Chester Zoo recently opened a stunning new area named Heart of Africa – the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK; home to 57 iconic African species.