The Synergy of Museums & Tourism Audience Development Presentation by Christian Waltl Lord Cultural Resources Amman, Jordan 7. April 2009

Changing roles of museums ‘Museums should change from being about something to being for somebody’ (Stephen E. Weil) One of the driving forces behind the change process in museums was Stephen Weil long time scholar of the Smithinian Institute, deputy director of the Hirschhorn Museum and accomplished speaker and voice in the international museums scene. Stephen Weil saw the museum as a social enterprise where ist collections and other resources are means towards the accomlpishment of its enterpreneurial goals. He stessed out that a museum without social value is nothing. I would also add that a museum without people is nothing but a collection or an archive. ENDS: describes the deliberate efforts of a museum to bring about positive differences in the lives of its community/visitors (to satisfy the needs of the visitor) MEANS: refers to everything the museum has to have (collection, staff, money etc.) – or do (organise exhibitions, collect, research, etc.) to achieve those ends

Changing roles of museums Object focus People focus Curators pre-eminent Multi-functional teams Static display Changing display/programming Scholarship valued Learning & leisure purpose Museums have entered a time of change, they are asked not only to justify their funding but also to redefine their role in society. Their survival is by no means guaranteed through substantial public funding but also through an active dialog with potential and existing audiences, special interest groups and it’s partnership with society in general. Museums are centres of knowledge and the mission to offer an educational experience is primarily the key objective in serving our visitors. Interesting to note that research in the US and UK show that it is not the quality of the collection which is the main factor for potential visitors when deciding to visit a museum or gallery, it is much more the environment as a whole and the interaction with the collection that proves to be the key factor. It is very much about offering opportunities for engagement. This also means that museums are part of the service industry working in partnership with all stakeholders to achieve user satisfaction at a time were expectations on service quality generally are rising. The process of establishing museums for the many goes hand in hand with a transformation of museums which engage and involve visitors and change from being supply focused to demand focused. An audience-focused museum is a successful organisation, where the relationship between the programme activities and the audience is dynamic, meaningful and respectful. Museums with space for recreation, social interaction, contemplation and emotions are high on the agenda those days. Some of these changes are hugely debated and museums are often criticised for ‘dumbing down’ but with the commitment of providing innovative programmes with the highest possible quality standard for a wide range of audiences, museums can establish themselves as centres of excellence who make a positive difference to people's life. Visitor barriers Participation/engagement Authoritarian Dialog

Why are museums important today? Preservation, research & interpretation Anchors for knowledge generation Creativity & community development Life long learning Urban development Cultural tourism Pleasure & enjoyment Prestige & diplomacy Preservation of the creation of nature and humanity – but this preservation and research goes on more openly. Welcome Wing – annex to the Natural History Museum in London that houses the specimen storage Prestige & diplomacy – is very strongly important in the Gulf region – this can lead to operational resource problems especially with guides being used by VIPs 4 4

The museum as a public space The museum as a piazza The museum as an idea factory The museum as a learning space for communication for meeting friends for spending leisure time for enjoyment and pleasure to learn more about your own identity to learn more about different cultures to learn from authentic objects self directed and free choice learning learn by asking questions and find your own answers to be inspired by stories behind the objects – leads into creativity to be provoked to ask questions to contemplate to be confronted by the unknown

What is audience development? Audience development is about: developing and retaining new audiences building a strong relationship with existing audiences and engage them improving visitor experiences and encourage frequent use introducing non-attenders to the organisation reaching out to special community groups who would not normally come to a museum. Obvioulsy the changing roles and scope of museums have brought some problems with audiences and target groups The main challenges for museums in the 21st century are: to build an enduring relationship with existing audiences To develop and then retain new audiences Audience development is very much an anglo-american led term, which has only slowly found its way into Central Europe describing a powerful process of improving services to existing visitors and reaching out to new audiences. It is not a simple course of action but a planned and targeted management process which involves almost all areas of a museum working together to deliver the organisation’s overall aims and objectives to high quality standards. Audience development also needs to ensure that museums continue to be relevant to all the different community groups and provide multiple experiences. Audience development is about breaking down the barriers which hinder access to museums. It is not only about numbers and there are different approaches depending on the need of the specific target group but the bases of all audience development initiatives should be research – market research – knowing your audience is key to identify different needs but also to develop niche markets. Audience development is the responsibility of all people working in museums. Being audience-centred rather then product led requires a profound understanding of visitors and non-visitors with respect to their nature, motivations, expectations and needs. To be able to do this professional audience research is vital to make informed decisions on programme activities and to efficiently react to changes in behaviour patterns of society. Practically visitor studies are an important management tool that should feed into all museum areas and lead to improvements to service quality as a whole and as Graham Black (2005) argues ‘… if museums acknowledge that they should be audience-centred, a properly resourced programme of visitor studies should be an essential, systematic element of museum’s activities’ Museums have to be proactive in planning their audience development strategies. They have to include access issues like equal opportunities, social inclusion or cultural diversity as well as disability. Strategies have to overcome physical, intellectual, cultural, attitudinal/emotional and financial access – achieving the widest possible access to collections and knowledge should be a primary objective that is part of an overall museums forward plan. 6 6

Visitor research is the key to audience development Why do they come (motivation)? Where do they come from? What are their needs? What are their expectations? How satisfied were the visitors? Who are the non-visitors? The motivation drivers are hierarchical – in moving up the hierarchy visitors experience increasing levels of engagement – the further up the level the more fulfilling and rewarding the visit. Social attraction: people see the museum as an enjoyable place to spend time with friends and family Intellectual: These visitors are driven by self-development and knowledge acquisition, to become more informed and interesting people. Emotional: visitors want to experience what the past was like, or they may have a personal connection to the subject matter (mining museum etc.) Spiritual: visitor are looking for creative stimulation or quiet contemplation and see museums as an opportunity to escape and recharge their batteries The classification has been grouped into four key drivers: the social, the intellectual, the emotional and the spiritual motivated visitor. Each of them are hierarchical beginning with the social motivated visitor which makes about 48% of visits to museums, the intellectual motivated visitor (39%), the emotional motivated visitor (11%) and the spiritual motivated visitor (3%). For galleries the numbers are quite different with 18% of the spiritual motivated visitors. The higher up visitors move the hierarchy the more fulfilling and rewarding the museums visit was. Thus the aim of good programming and visitor engagement seems to be core to the work we do.

Audience Pyramid Attenders Intenders Open to persuasion Resistors Segmenting the market by attenders or not is probably too simplistic. There are core attenders who attend frequently other less often In selecting a leisure time activity, the decision to visit a museum is dependent on the belief that the museums can meet the needs of the visitors. Intenders – are those who already want to attend, but are waiting for the right opportunity – these people too belief that museums can meet their needs Open to persuasion – are people who are not totally convinced that musems can meet their needs – they will require an active persuasion Resistors are very sceptical about museums – often due lack of understanding of their own needs but also through negative experiences in the past Rejectors are actively hostile – they are convinced museums are not for them. Resistors Rejectors After Morris, Hargreaves, McIntyre, 2005

A Model of Museum Visiting Social interaction Doing something worthwhile Having the challenge of new experiences Having an opportunity to learn Participating actively Feeling comfortable and at ease with the sourroundings Motivations Museum Visiting Predictors Global Trends Many factors potentially influence the decision about whether or not to visit a museum. Word of mouth from family and friends, past leisure experiences, personal interest and values all play major roles in the decision-making process. However the choice of whether to go or not to go to a museum cannot be totally understood at the level of the individual. Museum-going also needs to be considered in a broader context, at the level of the society. Changes in society have strong implications for museums and their services. One factor which needs to be taken into account is that in Austria and this is probably true for other European countries too, society is rapidly aging and within 20 years from now a third of all Austrians will be over 60. Another challenging target group are families in all their guises from single parents to patch-work families. They all have different needs and desires that should be best catered for. As research show both groups, the elderly and families, are under-represented amongst museum audiences. Rising affluence and education levels Ageing population Cultural diversity Less leisure time and emphasis on short breaks Information technology Personal interest Demographics Values and beliefs Prior exposure Opportunities Time Source: Hood (1996), Kelly (2001)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 1954 Motivation drivers creativity Self-actualization 3% spiritual contemplation 10% experience the past Self-esteem emotional nostalgia aesthetic Social needs intellectual Interested in learning 39% The motivation drivers are hierarchical – in moving up the hierarchy visitors experience increasing levels of engagement – the further up the level the more fulfilling and rewarding the visit. Social attraction: people see the museum as an enjoyable place to spend time with friends and family Intellectual: These visitors are driven by self-development and knowledge acquisition, to become more informed and interesting people. Emotional: visitors want to experience what the past was like, or they may have a personal connection to the subject matter (mining museum etc.) Spiritual: visitor are looking for creative stimulation or quiet contemplation and see museums as an opportunity to escape and recharge their batteries The classification has been grouped into four key drivers: the social, the intellectual, the emotional and the spiritual motivated visitor. Each of them are hierarchical beginning with the social motivated visitor which makes about 48% of visits to museums, the intellectual motivated visitor (39%), the emotional motivated visitor (11%) and the spiritual motivated visitor (3%). For galleries the numbers are quite different with 18% of the spiritual motivated visitors. The higher up visitors move the hierarchy the more fulfilling and rewarding the museums visit was. Thus the aim of good programming and visitor engagement seems to be core to the work we do. Safety needs 48% entertainment social social interaction Physical needs After Morris, Hagraeves, McIntyre, 2005

Museums as key players for cultural tourism Destination enhancer Destination motivator Culture and in that sense museum play a dual role in toruism – they are part of the mix of what makes a destination appealing. Tourists see museums and in particular special museums as a destination enhancer whether or not this is stated in their motivation or reason for traveling to a certain destination. Then there is the factor of a destination motivator – which is more or less the only reason for tourists to travel to a particular destination. We can persume that Saadiyat Island will be in this category. Cultural tourists tend to be motivated by learning something new but also they can be equally motivated in following up on a specific interests – interested in classical music – they need to see the birthplace of Mozart etc.. Photos: Saadiyat Island – Guggenheim (Frank Gehry) and in the background the Louvre (Jan Novel) Bahrain National Museum by KHR arkitekter AS

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain What makes it so successful? The power of an iconic building (Frank Gehry) A global brand A committed local authority (& great idea) An outstanding programme of special exhibitions The Facts 10 years of operation 1 million visits per year 90% tourists 12.8% ROI Major urban regeneration The Bilbao effect is a synonym for cultural tourism ROI = return on investment 12 12

The Museum of Islamic Art Doha, Qatar What makes it so brilliant? Superb architecture Outstanding interior design Global positioning Location Great collection Dedicated leadership Prime space for learning 13 13

The Bahrain Fort Museum Kingdom of Bahrain What makes it so attractive? Historical location next to the old Portuguese Fort Simplistic modern design Archeological jewel Prime space for research Opened 2008 Bahrain has 5.5 Mill tourists per year 89% from the GCC – the majority from Saudi Arabia (most of them business and leisure) National Museum has about 80.000 visitors per year (23% are school groups; 51% from the Gulf, 41% international and only 8% from local residents excluding schools) Shaik Isa House in Muharraq Bahrain National Museum was a urban development project on regained land (1989 opening) Matar House (one of the leading pearl mechants) 5000 year old history Oldest Suq in the Gulf 14 14

The profile of cultural tourists Want to explore Meaningful personal experience Integrated experience Motivated by high impact cultural events Frequent short trips Use the internet to tailor their travel High level of educational attainment Can be of any age

How can museums meet the needs of cultural tourism? Offering a unique cultural experience with a focus on quality and distinctiveness Need to offer information on local culture and traditions Allow active participation Multilevel interpretation & multiple languages Necessary information on website Museum marketing strategy that ties into the tourism strategy The quality of the cultural experience is the number one factor in deciding to visit (perceived quality) Key indicators of quality for the 21st Century traveler is word od mouth, knowledge, personal experience potential and brand signifier such as big recognised names Tate, the Louvre, Guggenheim etc. Distinctiveness refers to the way that a perticular cultural product distinguishes itself from the cultural market place such as scale (smallest, largets, most spectacular), authenticity (best preserved etc), unusual (in setting, design, production), time bound (limited available) prestige (the number of highly branded factors). There is a difference on the preception of needs of cultural tourists with Bilbao – there it is a global brand and people might not be necessarily interested in basque art or culture, however there is the chance of introducing people to basque traditions and culture when using the Guggenheim as a entry point to the Basque country Intercultural dialogue & cross cultural understanding Need to satisfy the social demands of cultural tourism Museums can act as mediators to local and the foreign cultures as well as providing a focus for understanding local cultures

How can the tourism sector meet the needs of museums? Offer PR and marketing opportunities Support and facilitate international positioning Share data Regional card schemes Transport schemes Distribution of promotional material

Museum versus tourism What are the obstacles? For profit / non-profit approach Lack of understanding Few exchanges of expertise and experiences Exchange of data Data on tourists not conform with museum visitor data Museums planning versus tourism planning Two traditionally separate industries – culture and tourism Over and over again I had troubles with tourism sector on advertising fees in tourist brochures – they saw their activity as a money maker Age range data not the same Tourism planning is more long term – museums programming is often due to funding constraints very short term – that means that brochures for tour groups are produced 1,5 years in advance

Key challenges Balance act between the needs of tourists and the needs of the local community Communication Sufficient operational funding (esp. marketing) Product enhancement Sustainability Summertime programming for tourists whereas off-season for local market. Internet has opened up new opportunities for communicating to a range of communities of interest. Think about the social media websites such as Flickr, youTube or Facebook – they enable the sharing of expereinces (people post photos of visits etc.)

How can the 2 sectors work together? Regular exchange of information and expertise Joint working groups for visitor/tourist research Close collaboration in marketing (destination-level marketing) Create in cooperation varied and innovative programme packages Cultural clusters

Audience development as a tool for a tourism development strategy Assess current practice Identify barriers to collaboration Identify visitors and geographical distribution Review visitor’s needs Assess potential for audience development (resources & skills) Set objectives Market segmentation Establish target audiences Set an action plan for each target audience Support staff with training Internships & placements Work with partners Proper marketing Evaluate, review and improve tourism product regularly 21

Conclusion Museums audience development and tourism development have the same goals Museums’ audience development initiatives can work as a tool for tourism development It is about tailoring the offered services to the needs of the traveler/visitor It is about offering a high quality product It is a shared responsibility that works best with an integrated and collaborative approach

The new Bilbao Effect? THANK YOU! in the 21st Century King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge & Culture, Saudi Arabia THANK YOU!