Museum attendance up

Museum attendance is up in most places around the country, except, curiously, in New England. The American Association of Museums released a report Friday that said, “A majority of American museums report an increase in attendance 2009, in many cases despite a significant decline in funding.”

However, the same report says that museums in New England were the least likely to report increases (45.3 percent vs. 57.4 percent of all museums in the U.S.). More than a quarter of museums reported a “significant increase” in total attendance of 5-20 percent.

Kelly Gifford of the Museum of Fine Arts said the MFA sees approximately 1 million visitors each year, but in 2009 did see a slight drop in overall attendance (977,085 in 2008 to 926,545 in 2009). However, she said there was also an increase in attendance for the museum’s free days. In 2009, the Museum increased the number of its free community days to nine days. Gifford said on average, more than 5,000 visitors attended each of these free day.

A number of reasons were suggested in the study as for why museum attendance was up overall, from more aggressive marketing to local visitors and school groups whose travel budgets have been cut, to the “staycation” factor, to museums being seen as a respite for people “desired to visit a quiet, beautiful place in times of economic uncertainty.”

The study said a decrease in tourism, the economy, a decline in school visits, and a reduction in staff and/or hours were all reasons why some museums might have had a decline in admissions.