Missing the Museums

How soon will Americans return to cultural attractions—the museums, parks, aquariums, zoos, theaters, and concerts they have been unable to visit during the Covid-19 shutdown? The public expects to resume normal visitation patterns within three months, according to Colleen Dilenschneider, the Chief Market Engagement Officer for IMPACTS, a firm that tracks audience engagement for nonprofit and cultural organizations. Dilenschneider provides her insights on the Know Your Own Bone website.

IMPACTS' weekly survey of adults who are likely to visit or have visited cultural attractions in the past shows that "intent to visit" is returning to normal after falling in March. Twenty-one percent of survey respondents as of May 2 intend to visit one of 84 cultural organizations within the next three months. This is the same percentage as the survey measured one year earlier—before coronavirus. Intent to visit is returning to normal. "People who enjoy visiting cultural organizations are starting to plan their trips again," says Dilenschneider.

While this is good news, there's a caveat. "Near-term demand for onsite cultural engagement is being redistributed away from some organization types and towards others," cautions Dilenschneider. Those who visit botanic gardens may be more likely to visit them than usual, according to the survey's findings. Those who visit zoos, public beaches, aquariums, and museums also indicate an increased interest in visiting. But those who attend movie theaters, performing arts, concerts, or sports stadiums are less interested in resuming their usual attendance pattern.

"Experiences requiring a visitor to be indoors and in stationary, close quarters do not currently indicate the same levels of demand as do other cultural enterprises," Dilenschneider concludes.

Source: Colleen Dilenschneider, Know Your Own Bone, Data Update: How Covid-19 Is Impacting Intentions to Visit Cultural Entities—May 4, 2020 and Which Cultural Entities Will People Return to after Reopening?—April 22, 2020