The British Museum, which does not charge an admission fee, attracted 5.84 million visitors in 2010, a five percent increase over the previous year. (Photo: Heather Kennedy / Flickr)

Attendance numbers at tourist attractions in England climbed three percent in 2010, according to VisitEngland, the country's tourism board. However, that modest increase should be marked with an important asterisk: while institutions with free admission witnessed a six percent increase, those that charge a fee took a one percent hit.

The free category includes most of England's major museums, many of which saw huge jumps in attendance numbers. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London saw an impressive 15.8 percent increase, to 2.63 million visitors, and Tate Britain's figure jumped 10.9 percent, to 1.66 million. Overall, the museum category increased five percent.

Even Britain's most popular tourist attraction, the British Museum, saw a dramatic increase in attendance, shooting up five percent, to 5.84 million visitors.

In New York, the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have both released growing attendance numbers in recent years, and both announced ticket price hikes over the past few months (though the Met's is a suggested donation). It remains to be seen what effect those increased prices will have on attendance.

Moreover, the Met pulled in people with shows that, for want of a tonier phrase, were from the basement.  Director Tom Campbell said that three of the four exhibitions which were among the most viewed in the fiscal year were assembled from the Met's existing holdings (in other words, not pricey imported loan shows). The trend "is especially heartening," said Mr. Campbell, in a statement. (No word on whether the traffic will help solve some of the museum's fiscal problems in recent years.)   But the total "sends a signal about the enduring importance of culture and cultural institutions to the public, especially during this period of recession," the director added.

The attendance breakdown, year-to-date, is Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with 380,574 visitors (it's open until August 15); Vermeer's Masterpiece The Milkmaid, with 329,446 visitors, and American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity (also open to August 15) with 175,033 visitors. Although it's never crystal-clear how such counts are put together - don't lots of people head for the mummies, the Monets, and the gift shop? - the Starn Brothers' current show on the roof was also a big draw, the Met reported.

The U.S. still has a ways to go in the museum Olympics, however. When it comes to worldwide rankings, exhibitions in Paris and Tokyo were the most packed in 2009, according to The Art Newspaper's stats for the calendar year.