However, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the U.S., like most countries across the world, went into lockdown, especially after becoming the epicenter of the virus in spring 2020. The entire hospitality industry was massively impacted, and has spent the past couple of years attempting to recover. Now that most countries globally have generally lifted all Covid-19 restrictions, tourism is starting to recover globally. However, while tourism from the U.S. to other countries has surpassed pre-pandemic numbers especially in the most visited cities by American tourists, registering more than 43 million travelers July 2023 YTD, the number of foreigners traveling to the U.S. are still not at pre-pandemic levels.
The most visited museums in the U.S. in 2023 contribute strongly to the tourism industry in the country, and currently, there are over 35,000 museums in the country that tourists can choose to visit, with the American Alliances of Museums mentioning the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on U.S. museums. Most museums are registered as non-profit organizations, and nearly 12,000 museums and 124,000 jobs were at risk of permanent closure. Well over half of all museums experienced severe pandemic related losses during this time period. Luckily, most were able to stay afloat even in such uncertain times, which is important for the U.S. economy considering that they support over 700,000 jobs, contribute over $50 billion annually to the U.S. economy and over three-quarters of all visitors to the U.S. engage in heritage or cultural activities, of which visiting museums is an important part. Additionally, museums receive almost unanimous support from the American public regardless of public affiliation, with 96% of Americans approve of lawmakers who are willing to support museums, and play an important part in the U.S. being considered one of the most culturally influential countries in the world.
While tourism levels may not have fully recovered right now, the top 20 most visited American museums will definitely play a part in tourism improving, and transforming the fortunes of hospitality industries. One of the biggest tourism companies in the world, Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has mentioned improvement in tourism levels in its Q2 2023 earnings transcript, stating "We estimate July room nights increased by about 20% year over year, benefiting from the easier comparison to July 2022. Overall, we have been very pleased to see our strong performance in the first half of the year, which has benefited from the continued strength and resiliency of overall travel demand. Our solid start to the year, combined with what we currently believe will be a new all-time high for Q3 summer travel period results and an improved outlook for the full year, which David will discuss in detail in his comments. While the near-term results and outlook are encouraging, we remain focused on what is important for the business for the long term, which means making the necessary investments to strengthen and grow our enterprise while simultaneously remaining cost conscious. We are seeing progress and momentum across several important initiatives, which will help strengthen our business over the long term. These initiatives include: Advancing our connected trip vision; further integrating AI technology into our offerings; continue to grow alternative accommodations; and building more direct relationships with our travel bookers. Starting with the connected trip. This is our long-term vision to make looking and experiencing travel easier, more personal, more enjoyable, while delivering better value to our traveler customers and supplier partners." The company further went on to discuss Q3 and FY expectations in the earnings call as well "“We expect Q3 sales and other expenses as a percentage of gross bookings to be about 20 basis points higher last year primarily due to higher gross bookings mix. We expect our more fixed expenses in Q3 to grow year-over-year about 30% due to higher personnel and related expenses, higher IT expenses including the impact of phasing from Q2, and higher indirect taxes in G&A. The year-over-year growth in our more fixed expenses includes about seven percentage points from changes in FX. The difference between the 20% growth in our more fixed expenses in Q2 and a 30% growth in Q3 is driven mainly by FX and major one. Taking all into account, we expect adjusted — we expect Q3 adjusted EBITDA to be around 20% higher than last year. Given the strong level of bookings that we’ve seen, we are updating our commentary for the full year."
This uptick in tourism in 2023 has contributed to Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) seeing it share price jump by 54% YTD 2023, and its Q2 results beat EPS analyst expectations by $8.46, while beating revenue estimates in the same time period by $330 million. With its incredible performance, hedge funds and investment management companies are taking note as well, and L1 Capital International Fund made the following comment about Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in its first quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the largest positive contributor to the March 2023 quarterly performance. We meaningfully added to our investment in Booking in the middle of 2022 when the market was overly focused on disruptions to travel in Europe caused by airport understaffing and other COVID-19 induced inefficiencies, as well as concerns that an economic downturn would materially reduce discretionary travel. Since then, the travel environment has continued to normalise, with China being the last major market to open travel borders post COVID-19. People the world over have demonstrated their ongoing desire to travel, an industry that has historically grown significantly faster than GDP growth. Management has continued to execute a well-planned strategy to increase connections with customers booking accommodation, including offering flights, on ground transport, activities and payment options. After increasing over 20% in the December 2022 quarter, Booking’s share price increased a further 30%+ during the March 2023 quarter. Booking is now trading within our assessed view of fair value. We retain confidence that management will continue to deliver returns to shareholders and Booking remains one of the Fund’s largest holdings.”
Methodology
To determine the top most visited museums in the U.S. in 2023, we consulted the Smithsonian Institute and Themed Entertainment Association's 2022 Museum Index. We ascertained the total visitors for each museum based on data from 2019 to 2022, and ranked each museum based on its total visitors. Considering multiple years allowed us to account for any bumps or troughs in visitors for any particular period or year. For the American Museum of Natural History in New York, we only had figures from 2019, and so, approximated our guess for each year based on a similar ratio from the National Museum Of Natural History in Washington D.C.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,119
The J. Paul Getty Center is part of the Getty Museum and cost $1.3 billion when it opened in 1997. While the Covid-19 pandemic devastated visitor numbers to the museum, it seems to be recovering well and recorded over 900k visitors in 2022.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,173
With over 46 million specimens, the California Academy Of Sciences received $2.1 million from the state in 2022 to support the Thriving California Environmental Learning Plan.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,305
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. focuses on compiling and displaying pictures of famous Americans.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,433
One of the largest natural history museums in the world, the Field Museum Of Natural History has more than 24 million specimens and was incorporated nearly 130 years ago.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,509
The Museum Of Science in Boston is home to more than 100 animals, most of which have been rescued and rehabilitated, not to mention more than 700 additional interactive exhibits.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,593
Most of the most-visited American museums in 2023 specialize in science and nature, and the Museum Of Science And Industry in Chicago is no different, which contains a full-scale replica of a coal mine and a captured World War II German submarine.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,778
The Art Institute Of Chicago is one of the oldest museums in the country, not to mention among the largest and has over 300,000 permanent artworks.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,792
The holocaust was one of the worst genocides in history, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum aims to not only make visitors aware about the atrocities committed at the time, but also to prevent such acts from occurring in the future.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,854
One of the newest museums in our list, the National Museum Of African American History And Culture was only established in 2003 and its current permanent home was established in 2016.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 3,907
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is one of several museums in our list located in Washington D.C.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 4,297
The only aviation museums among the most visited museums in America in 2023, the National Air And Space Museum was much higher up this list pre-pandemic but amidst Covid-19, visitor attendance dropped heavily and hasn't surpassed even 500,000 visitors since 2020.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 4,588
The most visited museum in Colorado, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science has over 350 staff in addition to 1,800 volunteers and one of the few museums in the U.S. to have a footfall of over 1 million in 2022.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 4,891
The California Science Center is one of many museums in our list dedicated to science, and is considered to be the largest hands-on science center on the West Coast.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 5,271
The Houston Museum Of Natural Science is the most visited museum in Texas, and showcases how natural history and science hold such fascination among Americans as well as foreign visitors.
Total number of visitors from 2019 to 2022 (in thousands): 5,481
The National Museum Of American History in Washington D.C. contains the heritage of the United States, and hence, is unsurprisingly among the most visited American museums.
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Disclosure: None. Top 20 most visited museums in the U.S. in 2023 is originally published on Insider Monkey.
