Great Lakes Aquarium Sets Attendance Record in 2023–Again

The number of visitors was up 10,000 from year before.

While the weather has forced many businesses to adjust, others keep on trucking. Or maybe swimming?

The Great Lakes Aquarium is finishing the year in record-breaking fashion. In fact, they’ve broken their attendance record for the second year in a row.

In 2023 they had ten thousand more visitors than last year—hitting the 210,000 mark.

Aquarium leaders say the holiday season is always strong, and that the year’s success was not because of a rainy December.

“In the summertime yes, we see that actually happens quite a bit when we have a rainy season, rainy days. Indoors is a little more fun,” said Jay Walker, Executive Director of the aquarium.

“But honestly, during this time of the year it’s a little different. We see a lot of pick-up on the weekends. You know, I think for us what we’ve been seeing, the trend is more the tourism’s been happening on the shoulder seasons. And I know there’s been a lot of work marketing towards those shoulder seasons by our Duluth marketing team. And that’s been a major difference I believe. We’ve seen those trends increase over the last couple years,” Walker said.

Walker said he thinks a big attraction for kids and families during the holidays is the interactive, hands-on activities. Although as a skier himself, he admits–he’s a bit bummed about this winter so far. As he puts it, you can’t ski on gravel.