Pakistan Monument Museum tops popular site with 514,944 visits during 2018

ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP):Pakistan Monument Museum (PMM) in Islamabad remained at the top for the third time in 2018 with 514,944 visits, followed by Khewra Mines with 430,561 visits and the third popular site was Lok Virsa Heritage Museum with 319,470 visits.

According to recent report by Gallup Pakistan titled “Cultural Heritage and Museum Visits in Pakistan”. In this study visits to 21 museum sites were taken into account, spread across the four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory. These sites included Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Lok Virsa Heritage Museum, Pakistan Monument Museum, Lahore Museum, Taxila Museum, Khewra Mines and more. The total number of visits to these museum sites over the past 5 years has seen a gradual increase with the number reaching around 2.7 million in 2018.

Similar to the countrywide trend, the total museum visits in Punjab have also been increasing at a constant rate, reaching 1.2 million in 2018; accounting for approximately 45% of the total museum visits in Pakistan for 2018.

Sindh accounted for 7 of the 21 museum sites considered in this study including the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi, Sindh Provincial Museum in Hyderabad, Museum Bhambore in Thatta district, Museum Mohenjodaro in Larkana district, Museum Umerkot in Tharparkar district and Quaid-i-Azam’s birthplace in Karachi.

The tourists’ visit to Sindh museums overall had been fluctuating over the years, with the highest number of visits observed in 2018 at 198,405. The lowest numbers of visits were observed in 2015 at 139,328.
KPK accounted for 3 of the 21 museum sites considered in this study including Peshawar Museum, Museum Saidu Sharif in Swat, and Dir Museum in Chekdara. The tourist traffic in KPK museums has seen a gradual increase over the years with the highest number of visits in 2018 at 54,815, a 200% increase since 2014.

From Balochistan, Museum Balochistan in Quetta was included in this study. The tourist traffic in Balochistan museums has seen a gradual increase over the years with the highest number of visits observed in 2018 at 1,632, a 71% increase since 2014.

Total foreign visits to museums have seen a gradual rise over the years, with the highest increase taking place between 2017 and 2018 when the number of visits rose by almost 60% to reach 27,378 visits.
Both cultural and museum sites have experienced a gradual increase in the number of foreign visits over the years, with the maximum number of visits recorded in 2018 however; Museums remained more popular among foreign tourists compared to cultural sites as museum received on average 50% more foreign visit to

Pakistan Monument Museum in Islamabad, Khewra Mines Museum in Chakwal and Lok Virsa Heritage Museum continued to be the top 3 most popular museums of Pakistan from 2016-2018, while Taxila Museum and Lahore Museum competed for the positions of fourth and fifth most popular museums.

Both cultural and museum sites have experienced a gradual increase in the number of foreign visits over the years, with the maximum number of visits recorded in 2018 however, museums remained more popular among foreign tourists compared to cultural sites as Museum received on average 50% more foreign visitors.

In the past five years the number of visits to cultural sites has seen more than a 300% rise, with the greatest increase taking place between 2017 and 2018, when the number of visits rose from 4.20 million to 6.63 million per year. These cultural and heritage sites largely consist of remains of historical civilizations, religious sites, Mughal and colonial monuments attracting both local and foreign tourists.

Total foreign visits to cultural sites have fluctuated between 2014 and 2017, with the number of visits hitting a 5-year low in 2017 at 7,028 visits. However the number rose by almost 160% in 2018 to reach 18,041 foreign visits.