Last year marked the third in a row that paid attendance declined at Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center, though officials with the state group that runs the two sites said the declines were offset by increased group attendance.
In all, 393,697 people paid to visit Jamestown Settlement while 152,974 paid to visit the Yorktown Victory Center.
The figures represent a 1.9 and 3.6 percent decline in paid attendance, respectively. Though group attendance at the two sites climbed, the rates paid by groups is discounted.
The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, which operates the two sites, collected $5,026,279 in admissions revenue in 2014, a 2.5 percent drop from the $5,153,363 collected in 2013.
“While we strive to ensure that visitors continue to have an excellent experience at the Yorktown Victory Center, construction of the new museum had a significant impact on the site in 2014, and we’re grateful that visitation nearly kept pace with the previous year,” JYF Senior Director of Marketing and Retail Operations Susan Bak said in a news release announcing the 2014 results.
Work has been underway for more than a year to construct the new American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, which will replace the victory center. Despite the ongoing work, the victory center will remain open.
Work on the new museum building is expected to be completed later this year, though the entire site will not be done until 2016.
Ticket sales to individual customers represented 63 percent of the total paid visitation at the two sites, with 75 percent of the individual customers coming from out of state. Group visitation accounted for the remaining 37 percent.
Bak said JYF plans to continue the joint advertising and marketing conducted online for JYF’s two sites along with other major Historic Triangle destinations like Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg.
“We remain invested in destination marketing and will continue to join with area partners in promoting cooperative tickets and vacation packages that include our museums,” she said in the release.
JYF gave out 58,360 complimentary admissions in 2014 to children under six, group escorts, promotional giveaways and Historic Triangle residents.
General admission is $16.75 for adults and $7.75 for ages 6 through 12 at Jamestown Settlement, and $9.75 for adults and $5.50 for children ages 6 through 12 at the victory center.