Visitor numbers from this week show that Tate Modern has suffered an 8% drop since last year.

AVLA (The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) has published the visitor numbers for their 197 members for year 2013.

These figures show that nearly 4.9 million people visited the Tate Modern last year, down 8% on their 5.3 million figures achieved during 2012. In 2012 Tate modern had record visitor numbers, up 9.5% on 2011, making 2012 the busiest year in its history.

Last years closure of Tate modern’s turbine hall is said to be one of the reasons for the drop in visitor numbers. The turbine hall was closed for several months whilst a new bridge was built to link the main galleries of Tate Modern to the new south-west extension. The original plan was that the bridge would open in 2012, but the opening of the 215 million project has been delayed to 2016. The new space will increase Tate Modern’s size by 60% and will therefore increase visitor capacity.

Culture secretary Maria Miller announced earlier this year that Tate Modern signed a  11-year, multi-million-pound agreement with Korean car makers Hyundai; the longest, largest and most expensive contract ever awarded at the gallery.

Sir Nicholas Serota, Tate’s director, called it a landmark partnership. “It marks a new chapter for Tate but is also a great springboard from which other things will grow,” he told The Guardian.