Showing results 1 - 12 of 13 for the tag: Visitor numbers.

November 15, 2014

Greek museum visitor numbers increase in 2014

Posted at 10:05 pm in New Acropolis Museum

The New Acropolis Museum remains the most popular museum in Greece, with 158,581 visitors during the period of measurement – an increase of 36.9% on the same period the previous year.

These figures are related to the Euro zone financial crisis on two levels. Firstly, as the Greek economy is gradually showing some signs of recovery, people are starting to think once again that it is a place worth visiting, rather than fearing that their holiday will be ruined by strikes.

At the same time, the economies of other countries in Europe are also starting to recover, meaning that people are taking weekend city breaks & trips abroad generally more frequently than they were over the last few years.

Acropolis Museum

Acropolis Museum

From:
Greek Reporter

Significant Increase in Visitors and Revenue at Greek Museums and Archaeological Sites
by Aggelos Skordas
Nov 12, 2014

A significant increase exceeding 20% in the attendance as well as the revenue of museums and archaeological sites across Greece in the first seven months of 2014, documented the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).

ELSTAT data showed that 22.1% more people visited museums during the January-July period, while revenue increased by 28%. At the same time, the archaeological sites across the country saw a visitors’ increase of 22.9% compared to the previous period while revenue increased by 16.1%. It is worth noting that solely on July, 29.8% more people visited museums and 20.2% archaeological sites. During that month, revenue was increased by 33.4% and 13.8% at museums and archaeological sites respectively.
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September 1, 2014

Can a museum be too big?

Posted at 1:06 pm in British Museum

An interesting perspective her, advocates breaking up the largest museums, to allow visitors to enjoy a better experience there, without such high levels of crowding. Institutions such as the British Museum regularly crow about the number of people who visit (with the implication of the statements being that they all see the Parthenon Marbles), but the reality is that this tells nothing about the quality of the experience.

The idea of splitting museums into more manageable chunks is nothing new – London’s Natural History Museum, the British Library & the now sadly defunct Museum of Mankind, once all fell under the auspices of the British Museum.

Some in the industry talk in horror about any event that might lead to a reduction in the collections of the encyclopaedic museums, but the reality is that if current trends continue, such breaking up of collections might become a necessity. As such, once this happens, surely restitution requests would not be seen in quite the same light as they are now, as breaking apart the integrity of a collection that had been amassed over the centuries.

Crowds at the Metropolitan Museum in New York

Crowds at the Metropolitan Museum in New York

From:
Al Jazeera

Break up the major museums to save them
August institutions should build more outposts rather than cloister themselves in big cities
August 31, 2014 6:00AM ET

The Louvre in Paris recently told The Art Newspaper that it expects its visitor numbers to rise by a third over the next decade, putting the world’s busiest art museum on track to welcome 12 million visitors annually by 2025. It’s a staggering figure that points to a growing reality facing art lovers and museumgoers: How can you expect to see and enjoy art through the chaotic crowds that are increasingly defining major museums?

In the last few years, many of the largest and most popular museums, including the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, have been experiencing significant issues with crowding. The head of visitor services at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg recently admitted to The New York Times, “Such a colossal number of simultaneous viewers isn’t good for the art, and it can be uncomfortable and overwhelming for those who come to see the art.” In the same article, an art historian disparaged the situation at the Uffizi Gallery, home to some of the most famous masterpieces of the Renaissance, saying, “It seems like a tropical greenhouse. You can’t breathe.”
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March 13, 2014

Acropolis Museum popularity on the increase

Posted at 2:04 pm in New Acropolis Museum

Last year, some had noted that the New Acropolis Museum’s visitor numbers had declined since its first months of opening.

It appears now that this may be changing, as the November 2013 figures just released indicate a 14% increase from the previous year.

New Acropolis Museum

New Acropolis Museum

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Thursday March 13, 2014
More visitors at Greek museums, archaeological sites

The number of visitors at Greek museums was up by 2.4 percent in November 2013, while the cultural institutions saw a 0.6 percent increase in their receipts compared to the same month the previous year, a Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) report revealed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, although the number of visitors at archaeological sites recorded an increase of 4 percent in November 2013, the respective receipts recorded a decrease of 1.4 percent in comparison to the same period last year.
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September 12, 2013

Greek tourist numbers rise

Posted at 1:48 pm in Acropolis, New Acropolis Museum

As an interesting postscript to the article about the decline in the number of visitors to the New Acropolis Museum. On the same day, many articles were published highlighting the increase in numbers to Greek archaeological sites.

Now, I have not seen the raw data for Either the New Acropolis Museum or the Acropolis & have no idea of the exact date ranges being used, but it looks as though things could be starting to increase again, with more tourists coming to Greece once more.

From:
Europe Online

Acropolis getting crowded as Greek tourist numbers rebound
By our dpa-correspondent and Europe Online
02.09.2013

Athens (dpa) – The good news for Greece‘s tourism industry – a record 11.5 million tourists are expected this year reports the country‘s National Tourism Organization – is bad news for the country‘s best-known landmark, the increasingly crowded Acropolis.

“It‘s leading to terrible crowding,” local archaeologist Eleni Stylianou told dpa on Monday. The crush gets worst in the morning, when hordes of tourists stream out of their cruise ships.
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The significance of declining visitor numbers at the New Acropolis Museum

Posted at 1:38 pm in Elgin Marbles, New Acropolis Museum

The author of this piece has, I suspect, taken a deliberately provocative approach to the subject matter. After all, magazine editors like nothing more than articles that stir up a heated discussion about a subject.

It does raise some interesting points though. Since its opening year, the visitor numbers at the New Acropolis Museum have declined. I believe that this is down to a variety of factors. Firstly, any new facility (whatever it is – shops, museums, hotels) tends to get an initial rush of interest – because of the fact that it is new. People rush to it, wanting to see it – particularly if the construction process has been going on for some time (works relating to the building of a new museum at the Acropolis Museum site had been underway since before 2000) and if it has made the headlines (which the New Acropolis Museum managed to on many occasions, regularly attracting controversy). After this initial honeymoon period, visitor numbers are likely to decline. Once people have visited something once, they are not so desperate to visit it again (afterall, there are many more things to see in the world, that they have not yet seen). Museums around the world regularly try to attract people back with temporary exhibitions, programmes of lectures & re-organisation of their exhibits, putting some in storage and others on display.

Secondly, there was an increase in admission charges – the museum initial made a very minimal charge, which later increased – this was always a planed decision.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly from the perspective of people in Greece today, is the financial crisis. The museum could not have opened at a worse time, as during the period immediately afterwards, the financial storm clouds that had been brewing on the horizon unleashed wave after wave of bad news for Greece. Budget cutbacks meant that there were reductions in the amount that could be spent on publicity for the new museum. People saw pictures of rioters ripping apart the cobbles of Syntagma & tear gas grenades being thrown by police in Exarchia and may well have re-considered their trips to Greece that they were planning. Still more may have cancelled the days in Athens at the start or end of their trip & instead just passed through the airport, taking a more direct route to the peace of the islands. Strikes have plagued many of Greece’s museums and archaeological sites & featured regularly on the news around the world. Although the New Acropolis Museum has been largely unaffected, most people who see pictures of picketed gates to museums are not aware of this. The financial crisis has also had in impact on the economies of many other countries outside of Greece. Across Europe & further afield, unemployment has risen, along with prices of food and petrol, while wages have stagnated. For many people with less money available, holidays abroad, particularly short weekend breaks are something that they have cut back on. Speaking from the point of view of someone in the UK, the current GBP:EUR exchange rates make Greece a far more expensive place to visit than it ever used to be, No longer does Athens feel like a cheap destination, but instead has prices comparable to London.

However, notwithstanding all the above provisos, the New Acropolis Museum has seen a decline in its visitor numbers over time & they are lower than some predictions hoped they would be.

Perhaps more importantly (maybe I should have mentioned this at the start of the article), I have always found arguments (from the British Museum) relating to visitor numbers to be a red-herring, distracting people from the actual discussion in hand. If maximising the number of people that see an artefact is of primary importance, then perhaps everything should be shipped to Beijing or Mumbai? But then again, should visitor number be used to over-ride compelling moral arguments for the return of the sculptures?

At past press conferences at the New Acropolis Museum, Professor Pandermalis has made no secret of the decline in numbers. He has in fact emphasised them with the hope that at least some of the journalists present might write articles in a way that inspires people to come & visit the museum. He has also outlined strategies for how they hope to increase the numbers over time.

From:
Museums Journal

Greek Drama at the New Acropolis Museum
James Beresford
Issue 113/09, P17, 01.09.13

Opening to international fanfare in June 2009, the €129m New Acropolis Museum has become the embodiment of the Greek desire to see Elgin’s marble trophies returned to Athens. However, the paying public has been less-than-impressed with the museum, which has failed to attract the visitor numbers that were predicted.

In 2006 journalist Tom Flynn noted: “The old Acropolis Museum currently attracts around 1.5 million people each year. The Greeks hope their New Acropolis Museum will at least double that figure.”
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November 28, 2011

The New Acropolis Museum is Greece’s most popular tourist site

Posted at 2:02 pm in British Museum, Elgin Marbles, New Acropolis Museum

The official figures for 2010 show that the New Acropolis Museum was the most popular site for tourists visiting Greece. The British Museum might claim that more people see the Elgin Marbles in London (a fact that is open to some debate), however in the case of the New Acropolis Museum, the figures are for those people purely wanting to see the marbles – not general figures for a museum, which may include the Duveen Gallery, amongst numerous other elements.

From:
Agence France Presse

Acropolis Museum is Greece’s top site: official data
(AFP) – Apr 11, 2011

ATHENS — The Acropolis Museum was Greece’s top tourist draw in 2010, eclipsing for the first time the ancient Athens citadel whose sculptures it showcases, official data showed on Monday.

Over 1.3 million people queued to visit the country’s newest museum between January and December last year, the Greek statistics authority (Esa) said.
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August 28, 2010

The New Acropolis Museum’s first birthday

Posted at 12:31 pm in Elgin Marbles, New Acropolis Museum

The New Acropolis Museum celebrated its first birthday on 20th June. With over two million visitors in this time, it has rapidly become one of the destinations on the must see list for tourists in Athens. It has raised awareness of the Parthenon Marbles significantly, as the casts of them in the Parthenon Gallery now make it very clear how many of the sculptures are in the British Museum.

From:
Athens News Agency

06/23/2010
New Acropolis Museum celebrates first anniversary

More than two million people have visited the new Museum of the Acropolis during its first year of operation, according to figures presented by the museum to mark the first anniversary since it first opened to the public on June 20, 2009.

The museum’s board chairman Prof. Demetris Pandermalis said the museum received a total of 2,010,641 visitors in that time, had set research and scientific goals, made progress in the area of conservation and also in educational programmes.
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June 8, 2010

New Acropolis Museum leads rise in Greek Museum visitor numbers for 2009

Posted at 10:05 pm in New Acropolis Museum

It is now nearly a year since the New Acropolis Museum opened in Athens. This museum has led to a big increase for the visitor figures to museums in Greece – hopefully once the newness wears off its popularity will continue.

From:
Agence France Presse

Greece museum visitors increase by 40 percent
(AFP) – Apr 12, 2010

ATHENS — The number of visitors to Greek museums jumped by 41 percent last year compared to 2008, whilst fewer made trips to its archaeological sites, the national statistics service said Monday.

The hike in visitor numbers to 2,813,548 was largely due to the opening of a new Acropolis museum in Athens that brought in over 800,000 people.
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October 29, 2009

Will the British Museum ever make the bold gesture of returning the Rosetta Stone?

Posted at 1:54 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

Following the Louvre’s decision to return some fragments of frescos to Egypt, one wonders whether the relatively long standing requests to the British Museum for the return of the Rosetta Stone will be properly considered at last.

From:
Modern Ghana

HAWASS REQUESTS ROSETTA STONE: WILL BRITISH MUSEUM MAKE A BOLD CONCILIATORY GESTURE?
By Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Feature Article | Fri, 16 Oct 2009

In an article entitled Egypt asks British Museum for the Rosetta Stone after Louvre victory, the British Daily Telegraph reports that soon after the Louvre has agreed to return the stolen frescoes, Zahi Hawass, the dynamic Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities has asked the British Museum for a loan of the Rosetta Stone. The Telegraph also reports that: “Mr. Hawass acknowledged that seeking the return of the Rosetta Stone was a different proposition from the painted fragments in the Louvre.” The paper adds that: “A spokesman said the British Museum “enjoys good relations” with Egypt and promised to consider Mr Hawass’s request.”(1)

A reader who has not followed discussions on restitution and the efforts by Hawass to secure the return of looted Egyptian artefacts might be forgiven for thinking that emboldened by his recent success with the Louvre, Hawass is now turning attention to the British Museum and making demands. The truth however, is that the request for the return of the Rosetta Stone has been made long ago by the Egyptians. There are at least reports on this demand as far back as 2003.
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September 1, 2009

Half a million people visit New Acropolis Museum in first two months of opening

Posted at 12:58 pm in New Acropolis Museum

The amount of people visiting the New Acropolis Museum in its first month of opening has continued for its second month, giving a total of half a million visitors in the first two months.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Friday August 28, 2009
In Brief
ACROPOLIS MUSEUM

Over 500,000 people visited new building in last two months

More than half a million people have visited the Acropolis Museum since it opened to the public just over two months ago, the museum’s management said yesterday. More specifically, a total of 523,540 visitors have viewed the museum’s exhibits since June 20. Of these, 60 percent are foreign visitors, museum officials said. During the same two-month period, 409,000 hits by different users from 180 countries were recorded by the museum’s website, http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr.

August 11, 2009

New Acropolis Museum has quarter of a million visitors in first month

Posted at 12:57 pm in New Acropolis Museum

In the first month since its opening, over quarter of a million people have visited the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.

From:
Xinhua (China)

New Acropolis Museum a tourist hot spot for Athens
2009-08-11 10:46:25
by Xinhua writer Liang Yeqian

ATHENS, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — Tourists are flocking to the newly opened Acropolis Museum in Athens this summer, despite the annual exodus of Athenians on vacation to Greece’s islands and countryside.

Dimitrios Pantermalis, director of the new Acropolis Museum, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the new museum attracted more than 250,000 visitors from all over the world in the first month since its opening on June 20.
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July 2, 2009

Twelve thousand people per day visiting the New Acropolis Museum

Posted at 4:13 pm in New Acropolis Museum

More coverage of the successful first few days since the opening of the New Acropolis Museum.

From:
GRReporter

Successful first days for the Acropolis Museum
01 July 2009

The new Acropolis Museum, which was officially opened on June 20th, is finding itself a fundamental place in the Athenian life. The dozed off neighborhood around the streets “Makriyanni,” “Hadzihristou,” and “Mitzeon,” which were suffering the long construction period, are now turning into the liveliest part of the Greek capital. The patience of shop and coffee house owners, whose patience was running out because of the construction, is finally going to pay off. Long lines of tourists from all over the world are formed in front of the elegant building of the museum. 120 000 people have visited the museum for the first 10 days of its opening, which means that there were 12 000 people per day!

During the first five days, tickets could be bought only online and daily, 11 000 tickets were sold. Many people prefer to reserve their tickets over the phone and others – through a tourist agency. Right now, the Acropolis Museum is working on a longer day – from 08:00AM until 08:00PM but the lines start forming long before the opening hour. All celebrities, who come to Athens, also visit the museum. The mentioned stretched working times will remain until the end of 2009.
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