Incomes from museums estimated to rise up to more than 100 million €

The total income from the tickets of archeological sites and museums is

estimated to surpass 100 million euros this year

due to the large increase of international tourism.

But this increase in income is much smaller than the potential

one and in addition to that a connection between the

tourist products and culture is still lacking.

It’s a connection that could upgrade Greece in total as

a destination of quality tourism, and could simultaneously increase the

amount of spending per person of foreign visitors and extend the tourist season.

These are some of the conclusions which resulted

from the 2nd Athens Culture Symposium,organized by the

American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, last Monday (11.12.2017).

It is characteristic that the National Archeological Museum of Athens

is completing 10 months with a record of visitors, reaching 540.000.

Maria Lalogiannis, the museum’s director pointed out that circumstances

are now mature enough for a new strategic plan to be designed and applied.

It is notable that the total income from archaeological sites

and museums rose up to 88.1 million from 56.5 million in 2016,

aided from the doubling of the ticket price.

But in the first 6 months of 2017 an important increase of

16% of visitorsand 21% of incomes was recorded.

Considering the data taken from the National Archeological Museum,

the second largest in footfall after the Acropolis Museum,

the above increases appear to have accelerated significantly

between July and September of 2017, supporting the estimates

that the incomes will surpass 100 million this year.

However this amount of money, as it appears is barely enough

to cover the expenses of the museums and other cultural institutions,

let alone to upgrade the offered services and to fund the complete redesign

of the strategic positioning of culture in association with tourism in general.

Nonetheless, cultural content is a basic element in the research of

potential travelers especially from markets such as the USA and Great Britain.

Searches that are associated with tourism have increased by 45% since 2010.

In particular, in Greece, 35% of the tourist searches are affiliated with cultural

institutions, music, arts, festivals, historical monuments,

archeological sites and museums.

But the available content in Greece doesn’t seem

enough neither in quantity, depth, or quality.

The director of Marketing Greece, Ioanna Dretta, explained that “it is not just

the creation of inspiring advertisements that will promote

the whole spectrum of the country’s cultural experiences.

It is also necessary that the product that we actually offer follows up.

That’s why it is necessary to immediately open up a discussion about

the matter of contemporary solutions that are needed for security measures,

cleaning, the functioning of gift shops and cafes in museums

and archeological sites, about the process that will make

these sites suitable for events, as well as about the introduction of digital

interactive applications in museums and archeological sites”.