Kim Lehman says QVMAG needs to cater for culture tourism trends

Despite the relative success of virtual and digital strategies to engage cultural consumers while museums were closed to the public, a return to sustainable levels of physical visitation to museums is vital as we move towards a post-pandemic world.

The recently announced Futures Plan for the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery cannot have come at a more opportune time.

The plan has been described as ambitious, but without radical changes to funding models and governance structures, QVMAG could wither on the proverbial vine.

However, there are a range of factors at play in this new consumer environment for cultural organisations such as museums, and a range of possible responses.

As consumers of culture, museum visitors respond to marketing cues in ways different to consumers of other goods and services.

Sometimes that is not understood by all.

One area that can confuse the museum sector is 'motivation', which sits in the field of consumer behaviour and refers to how and why consumers engage in the consumption process. In this context, it is clear that museums need to better understand what motivates their visitors to attend if they are to recover going forwards.

During the 1960s, museum visitor research began to embrace to the burgeoning marketing phenomenon, and in particular, how museums could be more effective if they conceptualised their visitors as 'consumers'. The resultant research was largely dependent on visitor surveys, which were viewed as useful tools for providing data for policy and strategy making.

Later, there was an increased interest in the psychographic profile of museum visitors.

For the most part, this research has allowed museums to be more aware of the nature, diversity and needs of their market segments and to be more attuned to providing a quality cultural experience that evokes the authenticity desired by the modern visitor.

Recent years have seen museums delve deeper into what motivates people to visit.

Studies in Australia and around the world have identified three main areas that motivate museum visitation. The first can be called wellbeing, which encompasses notions of escapism, with visitors avoiding the hustle and bustle and spending a quiet time in a pleasant environment. It also takes in museums providing a rewarding cultural experience and one that stimulates creativity.

The second factor is learning. While this is a traditional role for museum visitors, an important component here is offering an opportunity for visitors to discover things they do not know. Visitors do not just want to learn; they want the sense of wonder that comes from discovery. The final motivation factor relates to the social aspects of a museum visit. Visitors want to share their interests with friends and/or spend quality time with their families and children. Certainly, there are links to the educational role of the museums, as well as to the cultural experience, but here the value for the visitor is social.

This reinforces the view that cultural organisations, such as museums, are not just driven by customer demand, but by a social mission. Museums need to be more than just financially sustainable, as important as that is. They also need to offer their visitors a range of experiences that make life rich and rewarding. How can this happen?

A couple of options are proposed in the QVMAG Futures Plan. The first is a Collection Discovery Centre which is envisaged as a publicly accessible art storage facility that would allow visitors to engage with the collection in ways never available before.

Another is a Centre of Aboriginal Science and Education which will work with the Aboriginal community to open up access to the breadth of aboriginal culture. These are the types of strategies that will offer the cultural consumer a deeper engagement, but importantly will also motivate those who do not usually visit. Combining the motivators of wellbeing, learning and social interaction, such strategies can increase visitation and ensure the future of a cultural icon.

The fact is that QVMAG operates in an openly competitive environment for visitors and financial resources and is not delivering the benefits to the community that it could.

Considerable thought has now been given to developing strategies to attract visitors to QVMAG, to Launceston, and the north in the form of the Futures Plan. The council, state government and those inside the organisation need to be bold and forward-thinking. The status quo is unsustainable.