ST. LOUIS — Visitor rates at the Gateway Arch reached the highest rate since 2013, continuing the bounce back after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to visitor counts published by the National Park Service, 2,422,836 people visited the park in 2023, an increase of more than 800,000 from the previous year. The number of visitors has rebounded from the low point seen during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
“We are pleased to see such strong visitation in 2023,” Superintendent of Gateway Arch National Park Jeremy Sweat said in a press release. “The National Park Service is looking forward to continued collaboration with our park partners to create high-quality visitor experiences in 2024 and as we prepare for the reopening of the Old Courthouse in 2025, which will further expand opportunities for park visitors.”
Starting in 2023, visitors were tracked using location-based cell phone data, which park officials say allows them to more accurately estimate the number of visitors on park grounds, not just into the visitors center.
According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the new method for counting visitors adopted last year makes knowing exactly how it compares with prior years impossible. The park previously used a method that assumed for every four visitors who entered the park's visitors center, that a fifth person was on the park grounds. An analysis of mobile device data observed in 2021 and 2022 found that there were 1.1 visitors on park grounds for every person who entered the visitors center.
Ryan McClure, executive director of Gateway Arch Park Foundation, said he thinks the increase was due in part to other events coming downtown.
"2023 was a busy year for our city, with the first St. Louis City SC MLS season, the return of the Battlehawks to the Dome, and many new attractions, he said.
Gateway Arch National Park Visitors
- 2023: 2,422,836
- 2022: 1,618,774
- 2021: 1,145,081
- 2020: 486,021
- 2019: 2,055,309
- 2018: 2,016,180
- 2017: 1,398,188
- 2016: 1,271,855
- 2015: 1,698,656
- 2014: 1,990,820
- 2013: 2,638,993
For more information about the Gateway Arch or to plan a visit to the park, click here.