Two major Belgian museums, Brussels' Africa Museum and Leuven's Museum M saw a decline in the number of visitors in 2024.
The AfricaMuseum, also known as Royal Museum for Central Africa, had 106,000 visitors in 2024 – down from 132,000 in 2023.
"The decline in 2024 aligns with a broader trend seen in other Brussels museums," spokesperson Pauline Malenga Mwanga noted. "We need to analyse the numbers further, but the museum’s accessibility was certainly impacted by the interruption of tram 44 and construction at the Leonard and Vierarmen junction,"
A highlight for the AfricaMuseum last year was the "ReThinking Collections" exhibition. Malenga Mwanga pointed out.
"Despite limited resources, the exhibition gained significant attention and positive reviews both domestically and internationally. The success of this exhibit confirmed that temporary exhibitions significantly enhance the museum’s appeal."
Queen Mathilde of Belgium receives a guided tour by curator Peter Carpreau during a royal visit to the 'Dieric Bouts, beeldenmaker' expo on painter Dieric Bouts (1410-1475) at the M-Museum in Leuven, Tuesday 19 December 2023. Credit: Belga
In 2024, the Museum M in Leuven welcomed just under 380,000 visitors, a decrease from 400,000 in 2023.
The figures for Museum M also include visitors to St. Peter’s Church in the Grote Markt, which is managed by the museum.
The slight decrease is attributed to an exceptionally high number of visitors in 2023. The city festival celebrating the artist Dieric Bouts in 2023 significantly boosted interest.
Despite the decrease, Museum M is satisfied with the 2024 numbers as no major city festival took place that year.
