The Tehran Times reported that during the Noruz Holiday period over 6 million tickets to museums were sold over the 13 day break.  This represents a significant increase over previous sales.

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge has recently announced that 43 museums and galleries will benefit from £4 million worth of grants.  The grants from the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Wolfson Foundation will be used to help improve the quality of displays and the visitor experience.  Read more here.

• The Chamber Pot Museum
• The Potato Museum
• The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum

Read more in The Times.

The Shetland Boat Museum opened in June.  Covering some 3,500sq m the £11.6 million museum traces the history of the ‘Shetland boat’ and is home to over 3,000 artefacts including five boats which are suspended from the ceiling.

The British Museum is planning a £100 million extension to show larger collections.  Planning Permission is being sought and if successful the new extension could open in 2011.

News Wales reports that some attractions in Wales have seen an increase in visitor numbers because of the rain. Several indoor based visitor experiences including Plantasia and Swansea Museum have experienced an increase in visitor numbers.

9th – 10th May
The show brings together suppliers and operators in the museum and heritage sectors.  The show also runs a number of seminars which cover subject areas such as marketing & audience development; design & interpretation and funding & income generation.

To find out more visit the Museums and Heritage show’s website.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council provides a wealth of resources. “The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) is the lead strategic agency for museums, libraries and archives. We are part of the wider MLA Partnership, working with the nine regional agencies to improve people’s lives by building knowledge, supporting learning, inspiring creativity and celebrating identity.” Visit their website to find out more.

An interesting report on the impact (economic, educational and cultural) of national museums and galleries. Valuing Museums: Impact and Innovation among National Museums. (The document is a 2.9mb pdf file).

The Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, commented that an extra 30 million people have visited national museums since admission fees were no longer levied.

The Imperial War Museum has reported a 12% increase in admission numbers, whereas the Museum of London has recorded a 30% increase and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich a 72% increase.

The National Trust have recently published a report ‘Museums – Policy from Practice’ which offers advice on how museums can address the challenges which they face.

The Curiosity Shop – is an interesting approach to providing a ‘mobile museum experience’ to visitors.

“In its eight month run last year, it visited Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Darlington and attracted an amazing 130,000 visitors…The aim of the Curiosity Shop was to bring the wonder of museums to people’s doorsteps and to encourage them to explore their local museums…“   Source: Hartlepool Borough Council

The online visitor experience are increasing in number.  “The south west of Scotland is to offer online access to all its local museum collections, thanks to financial support from the Scottish Executive.”  To read more click here. Source: Scottish Executive.

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao – I would be interested to learn how you think the ‘design’ of a building itself has an impact on attracting visitors. 

Another interesting example is the Milwaukee Art Museum, which has a retractable roof which resembles a pair of wings when opening and closing.

Please let me know what your views are news@pslplan.co.uk

“67%  more people visited England‘s national museums and galleries that formally charged in 2005 than in December 2001 when free access was introduced.

In the regions visits to these museums increased by 72%. Visits to National Museums Liverpool are up by 129%, to the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester by 48% and to the National Railway Museum in York by 43%.   In London, visits to former charging museums were up by 65% with visits to the V&A up 94%, the Natural History Museum by 83% and the Science Museum by 54%.”   Source: www.culture.gov.uk