Gas dispersion has been analysed experimentally by measuring local gas hold-up in two lab-scale conventional turbine-agitated vessels loaded with viscoelastic fluids. The gas hold-up radial profiles obtained in various axial positions close and far from the impeller reveal high non-uniformity of gas dispersion. Nonuniformity is quantified and related to elasticity, shear dependent viscosity, shear rate, first normal stress difference coefficient and type of fluid. The low values of gas hold-up obtained for the vessel central area are interpreted as hindered gas dispersion caused by the flow pattern specific for the viscoelastic properties of the circulating fluid. The paper is complementary to the effort for collecting up data for benchmarking numerical CFD simulations (Kumar et al., 1997).