A record number of visitors flocked to top British tourist attractions in 2014, with Scottish venues and London seeing the biggest surges, new figures showed on Monday.

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), which comprises 57 of the UK's most popular museums, galleries, heritage sites and zoos, said tourist numbers jumped 6.5 percent to more than 123 million in 2014 compared with a year earlier.

Stalwarts such as the British Museum, the National Gallery and Edinburgh Castle continued to draw impressive crowds, but one-off events and blockbuster exhibitions also boosted numbers, the ALVA said.

London's Tate Modern gallery saw a record number of visitors after holding a Matisse exhibition, while the World War I centenary commemorations -- including the sea of ceramic poppies outside the Tower of London -- drew visitors to related museums, ALVA said.

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow also saw tourists flock to the city's other attractions.

"These figures clearly demonstrate the popularity of our best-loved attractions and the importance of tourism to the UK and to the Scottish economy -- with it being the UK's fifth biggest industry and third largest employer, generating £127 billion per year," said ALVA director Bernard Donoghue.

The British Museum was the most popular visitor attraction for the eighth year running, followed by the National Gallery. Included in the numbers for the first time was London's Southbank Centre arts complex, which took third place.

Although the overall number of tourists visiting British attractions has reached a new high according to ALVA records, the body points out that four new members have been admitted to the association since last year, boosting visitor figures. AFP