Almost one million people visited the Roman Baths last year - but a report has warned price hikes and hold-ups at Stonehenge could lead to a fall in tourists coming to the city.
In 2013, some 996,143 people visited the city's best-known tourist attraction. This was a record year for the venue, with the best previous figures reached in 2011 and 1985.
A report by Bath and North East Somerset Council's Heritage Services department says the high visitor numbers are a result of investment, effective use of social media, good weather, positive coverage during the Olympics and the continuing trend of 'stay-cations'.
The report, which will go before the authority's Economic and Community Development Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel today, also reveals the Fashion Museum saw visitor numbers drop 17 per cent to 98,591 and the Victoria Art Gallery saw attendances drop nine per cent to 94,169.
According to the report, the introduction of fees for National Trust members at the Fashion Museum and the new charges for the temporary exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery are to blame for the drops.
Despite the Roman Bath's successes last year, heritage services officials have warned problems with a new visitor centre at Stonehenge could see the loss of more than 20,000 visitors to Bath in the future.
At the moment more than 40 per cent of Stonehenge's visitors arrive as coach parties, who visit Windsor Castle before and finish their gruelling day trip at the Roman Baths.
However, delays in the progress of visitors around the Stonehenge site have meant several tour operators have contacted B&NES officials to tell them that they will no longer have time to visit Bath.
The report said: "The current 'teething problems' at Stonehenge have meant that the problem of shortage of time is even worse than anyone had foreseen. Operators are currently making decisions about which part of their previous three-site packages to omit. As yet it is too early to calculate what the effect on the Roman Baths will be, but there is an increasing risk that it will exceed the 20,000 visitors previously forecast."
