THE new Revealing York Minster attraction has proved a resounding success, organisers have said.

There was an eight per cent increase in visitors over the bank holiday weekend, the first three days of the attraction’s opening.

Nicola Bexon, marketing director, said: “This time last year, the country was enjoying the Jubilee celebrations, so our figures for the Spring Bank Holiday in 2012 were very strong. However, this year’s figures are sensational – a full eight per cent increase on last year.

“Unusually for a bank holiday weekend, we were even facing competition from the stunning weather and the ever-popular York Races – so to have such a significant increase is a real testament to the widespread appeal of York’s newest attraction.”

The opening of Revealing York Minster was marked yesterday by a visit by York’s new civic party and key business leaders when the Dean of York, the Very Reverend Vivienne Faull, hosted a celebratory breakfast incorporating a visit to the Undercroft.

The project – which is due to be fully completed by 2016 – features new audiovisual and interactive galleries revealing the significance behind the Minster’s most treasured artefacts, multi-media galleries, new displays of historic collections and interactive interpretation and improved access to the South Transept, undercroft, treasury and crypt.