The latest TEA Global Experience Index highlights contrasting attendance trends across the world’s leading visitor attractions, with regional differences and changing approaches to destination development shaping the results for 2025.
Theme parks recorded broadly stable attendance last year, while water parks and museums experienced growth, according to the 2025 TEA Global Experience Index, published by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA).
The report found that the world’s top 25 theme parks attracted a combined 245.4 million visits in 2025, compared with 245.9 million visits at the same parks in 2024. This represents a year-on-year decrease of 0.2%, although the global figure masks differing performances between regions.
Europe’s four parks represented in the top 25 recorded more than 1.1 million additional visits, while extreme summer weather contributed to attendance declines at leading parks in South Korea.
In the United States, the opening of Universal Epic Universe helped boost overall attendance at Universal Orlando Resort. It also contributed to a 4.3% increase in combined attendance across Central Florida’s leading theme parks.
Water parks record stronger growth
Water parks delivered a more positive overall result, with the global top 20 attracting 36.3 million visits in 2025. This was an increase of 3.0% compared with the 35.2 million visits recorded by the same parks in 2024.
Spain’s Siam Park recorded one of the largest individual gains, increasing attendance by 26.0% to 1.6 million visits.
Brazil also performed well in the rankings, with Hot Beach and Beach Park both reporting double-digit attendance growth. Their results continued Latin America’s strong showing among the world’s leading water parks.
The figures highlight differences between the performance of individual attractions and the wider theme park sector, where overall attendance remained largely unchanged.
Museums benefit from expanded rankings
Museum attendance also increased, with the world’s top 20 institutions attracting a combined 161.4 million visits in 2025. This represented growth of 5.4% against the 153.2 million visits recorded by the same institutions in 2024.
Sixteen of the 20 institutions reported increased attendance, led by Beijing’s Palace Museum, which welcomed 19 million visits.
The Musée du Louvre remained the most visited museum outside China, recording 9.0 million visits. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was the only North American institution included in the global top 20.
The 2025 rankings also reflect an expanded definition of museums, incorporating historic palaces and sites with curated collections. These include Beijing’s Summer Palace and the Palace of Versailles in France.
The change broadens the scope of the museum rankings beyond conventional museum buildings, taking in additional cultural attractions that attract large visitor numbers.
Report highlights changing destination strategies
Alongside the attendance figures, the latest report examines how attractions are increasingly being developed and marketed as parts of wider destinations, bringing together complementary visitor experiences.
Matt Barton, CEO of CurtainUp and International Board President of TEA, said the report’s 20th annual edition points to an experience economy that increasingly connects major attractions with hotels, dining, retail, special events, immersive entertainment and cruise experiences.
“These broader destination strategies are creating new opportunities in emerging markets while helping established operators refresh mature destinations,” Barton said.
The report examines the attractions sector across the Americas, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), alongside its global rankings. The 2025 edition also includes a dedicated section on the cruise industry.
Melissa Ruminot, CEO of the TEA, said the Index offers a view of how audiences engage with attractions and cultural destinations around the world.
“This year’s findings show both the resilience of established markets and the growing importance of destinations that bring together a range of experiences,” Ruminot said.
She also thanked the organisations involved in producing the report, including Entertainment + Culture Advisors (ECA), The Park Database (TPDB), presenting partner Storyland Studios, design partner Moongate Design Studio and editorial partner InPark Magazine.
Download the report
The TEA has published the Global Experience Index as a free resource since 2006. The annual study provides attendance information for the world’s most visited theme parks, water parks and museums.
The report is produced by TEA in partnership with ECA and TPDB, with Storyland Studios serving as presenting partner, Moongate Design Studio as design partner and InPark Magazine as editorial partner.
The latest edition, the 20th annual report, is available through the official TEA website, which also provides access to previous editions free of charge. The full 2025 TEA Global Experience Index can be accessed through TEA’s official report download page.
