Do more people visit the British Museum than Belgium?
I was startled to pick up from POLITICO, quoting The Standard, that according to Boris Johnson, "We had more visitors to the British Museum alone than came to the whole of Belgium" in 2015.
Actually the 2015 figures have not yet been published as far as I can tell. But in "2014/15" (not clear precisely what period that is) the British Museum had 6.7 million visitors; whereas in the calendar year 2014, there were just over 17 million overnight visitors from other countries to Belgium - this figure omits day-trippers and those who stayed in private accommodation with friends or family.
So it's a fair bet that Belgium had at least three times as many visitors as the British Museum. But why let the facts get in the way of cheap rhetoric?
Senior Director, Global Solutions at APCO Worldwide
8 年Hi John, apologies for late response; I find that LinkedIn is very unreliable about alerting me to comments. To clarify: my article as posted made a mistake in the title - I intended to rebut the claim made by Boris Johnson that the British Museum has more visitors than *Belgium*, which is untrue. Apologies for causing confusion, but I think you would have picked this up yourself if you had actually read the article rather than instantly resorting to abuse.
Communication consultant & trainer - Content creator - Media strategist
8 年A great clarification! But can one be surprised?
I help people keep more of their hard won money by significantly reducing their Utility bills
8 年Ah well, just shows that there are experts and Brussels gravy train experts. 6.7 million to British Museum. 3.16 Million to Brussels region in 2013. There easy isn't it. As to Belgium. Many of those visitors will have been to see the graves of those killed fighting your "friend" Germany to protect you and France. Conveniently forgotten in all this.
Second Secretary (Energy) at Foreign and Commonwealth Office
8 年This is pretty poor stuff from someone who seems to have forgotten that they are still Mayor of London and these parochial comments do nothing for the reputation of a truly international city. The worst thing here is a seeming lazy tendency to be-little Belgium in all its forms, given that Belgium is not only where Waterloo's battlefield can be found but it also the final resting place of thousands of British and Commonwealth troops from 2 World Wars Boris shouldn't dismiss or ignore those who make the journey to Tyne Cot and elsewhere every year - isn't that a government policy?
I help people keep more of their hard won money by significantly reducing their Utility bills
9 年So more than twice as many