Funworld November 2009

Free or Fee?

European museums weigh the pros and cons of offering free admission
by Juliana Gilling

IN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE, free entry can be a powerful enticement, but is it the right strategy for all European museums?

With a few notable exceptions, including the UK’s and Denmark’s state museums, most European institutions still levy a nominal charge for entry, although some offer free admission for young people. Just this year, French President Nicholas Sarkozy announced the introduction of free museum entry for visitors under age 26. But there is no unified admission policy across Europe.

2008-2009 marks the seventh year of the free-entry policy at national museums and galleries in the UK, with a striking 9 million extra visits recorded in the same year. Since the Labour government reintroduced free access as a cornerstone of its cultural policy in December 2001, visits have jumped 124 percent at the formerly charging museums.

“Few museums would want to go back to charging, unless they were forced to for financial motives. For philosophical reasons, most museums believe in the benefits of free admission,” says Maurice Davies, deputy director of the Museums Association in the UK.

Give Something Back
But is it wise to attribute the growth in visitor figures at UK museums solely to free entry? In a research paper looking at the impact of Lottery expenditure on London museums, Davies—in conjunction with Sara Selwood, a cultural analyst at City University—found “the most successful museums were those that had both introduced free admission and invested a significant amount in refreshing or extending the galleries.”

“The product your museum is offering and the way you communicate that to potential visitors is more important in people’s decisions than the entrance price,” says Bert Boer, head of marketing and communication at the Netherlands Museum Association.

Boer’s views are informed by research carried out in the past year by the Association. It looked at the feasibility of the Netherlands government’s bid to introduce free museum access for children under 12. The plan, priced at €10 million a year (US$14 million), was shelved after analysis predicted it would only result in a 10 percent increase in visitors in the age group. “We have 2 million visitors in this category now, so 10 percent more would be 200,000 extra visitors. At €50 (US$70) a child, it was too expensive,” explains Boer.

“The government agreed, and they have asked us to invest in other ways to get children into the museum,” he adds. “For example: organizing free transportation from schools to museums, starting a primary school education program, and looking at what we can do in digital media for this group.”

Another effective tool to attract visitors is the Museumkaart (Museum Card) scheme. “People pay €35 (US$50) a year to become a member of the Museumkaart, which gives them access to around 440 museums,” says Boer. “We now have 600,000 cardholders who account for 3 million out of the 24 million annual visits to museums. Also, these people go to museums about 5.5 times a year, and through the cards we get to know them. We know where they go and what their interests are. We can communicate with them and make special offers, which is important for the future.”

Special Offers
Museums in Gothenburg, Sweden, operate under a similar scheme, according to Anna Rosengren, director of the city’s Maritime Museum. The city of Göteborg’s Committee of Arts and Cultural Affairs provides free museum entry for under-25s and a ticket costing SEK40 (about €4; US$6) for older visitors. The paid-for ticket allows unlimited visits to local museums throughout the year.

The ticket system was put in place after Sweden’s policy of free admissions was scrapped in 2007, two years after the previous government had removed the fees to attract more visitors. “The national museums of Sweden used to have free entrance; this increased the number of visitors, and new groups found their way to the museums,” says Rosengren. “However, many of the museums found it difficult to handle the new visitors as they did not get any extra money to take care of them. When the free entry system was withdrawn, most of the museums lost a lot of their visitors.

“At the moment, it is optional for the national museums to have free entrance. They each get a pot of money that they can use on free entry or some other strategic activity to develop audiences.”

The Maritime Museum and Aquarium have maintained income and visitors with the year-round ticket, says Rosengren: “It enables people to come back to the museum, and they bring new visitors with them. Over the past five years, visitor numbers have doubled, from 55,000 in 2003 to 110,000 in 2008, even if this is not only due to the ticket system. The museum now delivers a stronger experience, which has helped to engage with new visitors.

“It is important to be able to offer free admission to young people,” she continues. “If we can make them feel at home in our museums, I think they will continue to visit us. In the best of worlds, a [universal] free-access policy would be preferable. However, this demands compensation for lost entrance fees and extra subsidies to take care of the increased numbers of visitors. With today’s economy, I don’t see this as realistic, so I think the system we have is good.”

One of the weak points of a government-funded free access policy, such as the UK’s, is that “there is no guarantee that success in attracting visits will be rewarded by continuing levels of revenue support,” says Davies. “Also, museums now tend to get a much higher proportion of their money from government. So if the government cuts budgets, it’s going to have a more dramatic effect on museums.”

A Happy Medium
The economic downturn has naturally prompted talk of alternative business models. One suggestion is a mixed policy: keeping free entry during the day and charging for evening openings or other events. “We could learn from theatre, where there are varied ways of pricing to spread out demand and attract different kinds of people,” says Davies.

However, Jamie Barnes, curator of Kendal Museum in the UK, remains a staunch supporter of free admission. He saw a big increase in visitors in his previous post at Keswick Museum after the introduction of free entry. Visitor numbers at the regional museum, which has a seven-month season, rose from 6,000 in 2003 to 17,000 (2004) and then 20,000 (2008). “You should not view museums as visitor attractions or commercial operations; they should be viewed just like schools or libraries or any essential public service that has education at its heart,” he believes.

One thing is certain: Governments are always ready to play the free-access card for political advantage, so when the free-or-fee “discussion starts again, as it does every few years, it’s good to have the facts and figures,” says Boer.

Juliana Gilling is a specialist attractions journalist. E-mail: julianagilling@gmail.com.