Record attendance at Brussels museums in 2023, with 4.890.000 visitors
In 2023, Brussels museums welcomed no fewer than 4.890.000 visitors. This figure represents an increase of 20% on 2022, and even slightly exceeds the number of visitors in 2019, considered to be the best year ever before Covid. Tourists and locals alike are returning to museums, which is excellent news for a sector that has proved resilient in recent years.
For every month in 2023, there is an increase in the number of visitors compared with 2022, with clear peaks in spring, summer and at the end of the year, corresponding to the holiday periods. The figures show that tourists are undoubtedly returning to the capital’s museums. Museums that usually attract foreign tourists have recorded significant growth. Sales of the Brussels Card, the Brussels city pass, have broken all records (19,742 Brussels Cards sold in 2023, compared with 18,364 in 2019).
The year 2023 saw the opening of several new museums, including Belgian Beer World at the Bourse, and the reopening of the renovated Magritte Museum.
2023 was also the year of Art Nouveau in Brussels. Two exceptional venues opened their doors to the public on a permanent basis: the Maison Hannon and the Lab-An & Hôtel van Eetvelde. Numerous temporary exhibitions on this theme also attracted many visitors. The year of Art Nouveau in Brussels has been a resounding success: sales of the Art Nouveau Pass have tripled compared to 2022, totalling more than 13,300 visits to partner museums and exhibitions.
Brussels Museums, the federation of Brussels museums, is delighted with these more than positive results, and with the year 2024, which promises to be just as exciting. Brussels and its museums will celebrate among other things the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the 100th anniversary of Surrealism with a number of exhibitions organised in collaboration with other European institutions.