Visitors to Air Force Museum drop for third consecutive year

DAYTON, Ohio – The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force says the number of visitors to the southwest Ohio facility dropped for the third straight year.

The Dayton Daily News reports about 829,000 visitors came to the museum in 2017 compared to 850,000 the previous year. The museum reported nearly 860,000 visitors in 2015.

The museum has seen more than 1 million visitors in earlier years, largely drawn by events. There were about 150 fewer events in 2017 compared to the previous year.

Museum officials say they changed how they counted visitors in 2015 by only tracking people who passed through the security check-in point. It also stopped counting staff and volunteers.

Officials expect thousands of visitors in May for the opening of a new World War II bomber exhibit.