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  • 1.  Summer attendance decrease

    Posted 09-08-2022 10:51 AM
    Hi All: 

    I'm with The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA, and we reviewed our attendance figures from the past several months, and we're not very happy with what we've seen. Overall, our attendance is down to budget and even to prior year, and the decline seems to correlate with the increased cost of fuel and the rise of inflation beginning back in the spring.  I was wondering if any other organizations have seen a similar impact/trend? No need to share any specific data, I'm simply looking to see it was a trend or just us. 

    Thanks,

    Jeffrey Nichols
    The National Civil War Museum





  • 2.  RE: Summer attendance decrease

    Posted 09-09-2022 10:25 AM

    Hey Jeffrey,

     

    I'm sorry to hear that. Our attendance has been increasing – not back to pre-COVID levels but a significant rebound. It is starting to wane again as we head into fall but that is normal for us. I would suggest this could be because we are a small, local museum and more people are staying closer to home but a lot of our visitors this summer were not from the area (part of our greeting and orientation of visitors is to ask if they are local because we tailor the orientation accordingly). I am very interested to see what other folks are experiencing. I was chatting about this on Slack with a few of my colleagues around the US back in June and most were seeing an increase at that time, especially with out-of-town visitors and folks participating in tours, camps, etc. but I wonder if it persisted through the summer or not. Thanks for initiating the informal poll and I hope the community is able to help shed some light on the situation.

     

    emailMichelle Nash
    Curator of Collections
    Elkhart County Historical Museum
    Facebook28803-200

     

    "Museum collection storage is both a physical space and an ongoing process."- NPS

     






  • 3.  RE: Summer attendance decrease

    Posted 09-09-2022 11:56 AM
    Hi Jeffrey,

    Many of my past clients that have hot, muggy summers work with their marketing department (and others) to be sure the Museum's programming, marketing budget, emails to members, visitor participation, increasing membership attendance and participation among other areas. Some do comprehensive survey with members, visitors, donors, community, etc. to help understand what is happening and why, including but not limited to pricing (if applicable), membership costs, facility rentals, and visitor dining, if applicable.

    It is also good to benchmark with local cultural institutions in the Harrisburg area to see what they are experiencing and why.

    Hope that helps.
    Art

    ------------------------------
    Art Manask
    Founder/Principal
    Art Manask Consulting
    artmanask@gmail.com
    818 358-3588
    www.artmanaskconsulting.com
    ------------------------------



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