We conducted a survey from 4/27 to 4/30 of New York City residents who attend museums at least once a year. We collected a total of 500 responses.
The survey’s goals were:
1. To understand where attending museums will rank among New Yorker’s priorities once museums reopen and the quarantine is lifted.
2. Determine what museum-goers main concerns will be around COVID-19 when attending a museum.
3. Learn how museums can best ease visitor anxieties and get visitors back into their space.
This is an audience of frequent museum-goers, with 60% of respondents or museum-goers attending museums three or more times per year. A high 36% of respondents attend museums four or more times in an average year, followed by three times at 24%, and 20% visiting one or two times per year.
When asked what activities these New York City museum-goers were looking forward to doing most when the quarantine ends, 29% selected museums, just ahead of concerts and seeing a movie in a theater at 28% and 26% respectively.
Dining out is the leading activity at 72%, more than double all other options. A fifth of this sample are eager to catch a Broadway show, while 12% plan to visit an attraction like the Empire State Building once quarantine ends. Of this sample, 12% were not interested in any of the options listed.
A little less than half of this sample of museum-goers are extremely (28%) or very (13%) likely to visit a museum within the first three months of their reopening at 41%. Roughly a quarter of them are unsure if they will visit a museum that quickly after museums reopen with 24% selecting they are somewhat likely. Slightly more than a third are not very (17%) or not at all (18%) likely to visit a museum within this time frame at 35%.
When New York City museum-goers were asked whether their concerns around COVID-19 would prevent them from going to a museum once they reopen, 26% selected that it was extremely (9%) or very (17%) likely.
Conversely, 34% expect that their concerns around COVID-19 will not prevent them from visiting a museum, with 23% saying it was not very likely and 11% saying it was not at all likely. The most commonly selected option was that it was somewhat likely that their concerns would prevent them from visiting a museum, demonstrating an audience on the fence.
The primary concern of museum-goers in a post COVID-19 world is the volume of visitors at 63%, almost 20-percent higher than the following concern of museum visitors carrying the virus at 45%. Obviously, these things are related and demonstrate the overwhelming fear of crowds in this environment.
Roughly a quarter of museum-goers are concerned museum staff could be virus carriers, while a fifth are concerned with the cleanliness of the space and potential wait times due to limiting or screening visitors. Being a potential carrier is a concern for 16% of the sample.
Enacting social distancing policies in the museum space and limiting the number of visitors at any one time are the primary measures museums can take to address potential visitor concerns regarding COVID-19 at 62% each.
Half of museum-goers (52%) concerns would be reduced with mandatory mask-wearing for all guests and staff. Less than 40% of museum-goers selected taking guests’ temperatures as part of the screening process prior to entry at 37%, demonstrating thorough cleaning processes at 33%, and knowing museum staff had been tested at 31%.
In conclusion, this sample of New York City museum-goers demonstrate some eagerness to visit museums once they reopen, with 29% saying it was a priority, second to dining out, and 41% saying they are extremely or very likely to visit a museum in the first three months after they reopen.
There will of course be much anxiety in anything involving crowds, and that’s seen in the 26% of museum-goers who said their concerns around COVID-19 would prevent them from going to a museum and a high 40% who are unsure how their COVID-19 concerns will impact their museum visitation.
Museums can alleviate some of these anxieties with policies limiting visitor volume at any one-time, social distancing in the museum, and mandating mask wearing for all visitors and staff. These rules should be made clear on all pre-visit touch points (website, social, third party ticket providers, etc.). In order to better manage visitor volume and decrease wait times, timed ticketing should also be implemented.
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