Tourist attractions in Chester County saw a sharp drop in visitors over the past year, owing to COVID-19-related closures and social-distancing restrictions. Onsite capacity limitations quelled travel countywide, writes Sharon Oliver for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

To compensate for the loss of in-person visits, several attractions introduced virtual tours to continue welcoming guests in some way during the shutdown.

Longwood Gardens saw a 44.89 percent drop in visits from 2019 to 2020. The attraction welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors two years ago, compared with just 856,000 last year.

Meanwhile, the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum saw an even more drastic fall-off. The Coatesville museum lost 90 percent of visitors in 2020 compared to the previous year.

Both attractions set up a virtual presence during the pandemic. Longwood Gardens attracted 308,474 visitors online in 2020, while the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum drew in 78,000 visitors with its virtual tour.

Read more about the drop in visits to local tourist attractions in the Philadelphia Business Journal.