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NORFOLK JOINT MUSEUMS COMMITTEE
20th June 2003
Item No.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF VISITOR PERFORMANCE
Report by the Head of Museums & Archaeology
This report analyses the number of visits made by members of the
public to the museums operated by the Norfolk Museums and
Archaeology Service for the financial year 2002-03 It discusses overall
trends for the service along with those for individual museums.
1
INTRODUCTION
The following paper reports the number of visits made by members of the
public to the museums operated by the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology
Service for the financial year 2002-03. It discusses overall trends for the
service along with those for individual museums.
2
ATTENDANCES FOR ALL MUSEUMS OPERATED BY NMAS
1998-1999
2001-2002
2002-2003
322,941 (last full year of opening)
303,503
300,977
Over the whole county attendances for 2002-03 were similar to 2001-02. But
these simple figures do not give an accurate picture of what is happening in
museums across the county. The last two years, with developments at
Norwich Castle, Norfolk Rural Life Museum and the Great Yarmouth
Tolhouse, along with the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001, have resulted in
visitor patterns showing massive fluctuations with periods of closure for
development, followed by surges in visits following museums re-opening.
To make a more accurate appraisal of visitor trends the museums need to
be divided into three groups and a comparison made to 1998-99 the last
year when all the museums were operating all year and prior to any
development: Refurbished Museums (Castle, NRLM, Elizabethan Hs and Tolhouse)


Norwich Museums (Regimental, Bridewell, Strangers Hall, Carrow Hs)
County Museums (Lynn, Town House, Ancient Hs, Cromer, Maritime)
Compared to 1998-99 visits in 2002-03 to the: Refurbished museums has increased by 9%
 Norwich branch museums has decreased by 3%
 County branch museums has decreased by 10%
Because the two largest sites have been developed, the 9% increase from
the refurbished museums has offset the decreases elsewhere.
Annual attendances for the entire service are made up as follows:
Norwich Castle
Norfolk Rural Life Museum
Cromer Museum
Elizabethan House
Lynn, Town House, Ancient House
Bridewell, Maritime, Tolhouse, Strangers Hall and
Carrow House
Regimental (including visitors exiting from Norwich
Castle)
3
52%
14%
5.5%
3.5%
3% each
1% each
11%
ADMISSION CHARGES
Annex 1 sets out the admission charges for the different museums around
the county. These prices have been set in accordance with the principles
set out in the Charging Policy agreed by the JMC in March 2000.
4
ANALYSIS OF ATTENDANCES TO INDIVIDUAL SITES
4.1
Norwich Castle
1998-99
2001-2002
2002-2003
145,160
159,738 (9 months)
157,331
Following the re-opening of Norwich Castle visits surged to the equivalent of
200,000 per annum. High attendances were consistent until the end of the
2001-02 financial year.
The new financial year began poorly as the novelty of the development wore
off, an early Easter resulted in only one weeks holiday in the new year, and
we faced an increase in competition from the events surrounding the
Queen’s Jubilee and the newly opened Origins.
The On the Ball City exhibition helped us maintain a reasonable level of
attendances during the middle part of the year. However it was September
before attendance figures rose above those achieved in 1998-99.
Throughout the rest of the year attendance patterns were consistent with
previous years, at a level slightly higher than the pre-development period
and the Flower Power exhibition ensured a strong finish to the year.
The zoning policy continues to work well, with
52% of visitors purchasing a ticket for all the museum,
31% of visitors purchasing a ticket for the Castle & History zone
9% of visitors purchasing a ticket for the Art & Exhibitions zone
8% of visitors purchasing a 1 hour ‘Pop in for a Pound’ ticket
As it accounts for some 52% of all visits to county museums, the success of
Norwich Castle has an enormous impact on the overall visitor numbers for
the service.
4.2
Norwich Museums
The branch museums in Norwich have not seen any major development
since the opening of the Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum in the early
1990s. In the 20 months between July 2001 and March 2003, the re-opened
Norwich Castle and the newly created Origins attracted in excess of 350,000
visits.
This equates to an additional 100,000 visits to museum/heritage sites in
Norwich compared to 1998-99. Given that there is no evidence to indicate
that the market for museums and heritage has significantly increased over
that period it is a reasonable conclusion that a significant percentage of
those visits have resulted in a decrease in visits to other heritage sites.
4.3
Carrow House
2001-2002
2002-2003
1,974
1,963
Group visits and events attract a modest but steady audience for activities at
Carrow House Study Centre. The centre is open for group visits for 2 days
each week.
4.4
Bridewell Museum, Norwich
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
11,200
7,600
2,750
2000-01 attendances were higher than previous years due to closure of
Norwich Castle. The subsequent decrease in 2002-03 can be credited to
competition from Norwich Castle and Origins, which the Bridewell is unable
to compete with.
4.5
Strangers Hall, Norwich
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
4,000
2,300
1,950
High attendance 2000-01 were due to Strangers re-opening for public tours
and Norwich Castle being closed. Subsequently attendances on tours have
declined although costumed tours at Christmas have proved very
successful. Again visits to Norwich Castle and Origins will have had an
impact on Strangers.
4.6
Royal Norfolk Regimental Museum, Norwich
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
6,420
4,470 (+ 33,000 exiting from Castle)
2,910 (+32,667 exiting from Castle)
2000-01 figures were higher than usual due to Norwich Castle being closed.
Once again there is a marked decrease in attendances in the period after
the Castle and Origins opened.
4.7
Tolhouse Museum, Great Yarmouth
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
4,680
3,910
3,500
The museum closed from September 2001 to July 2002 and so 2002-03
figures are for a 4 month season rather than the usual 6 months. Visits
during this period were comparable to those of previous years.
4.8
Elizabethan House, Great Yarmouth
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
7,450
10,350
10,300
Another very good year for the Elizabethan House, which has seen a steady
increase in visitors over the past 2-3 years. Last years report stated it was
unlikely that attendances of 10,000 could be maintained as they were in part
due to the closure of the Tolhouse and additional visitors going to Yarmouth
due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak.
In fact, although paying visitors to the Elizabethan House have decreased
by 7%, the number of free visits from schools has increased and the
number of visits by English Heritage and National Trust members has held
steady indicating that the joint marketing with these two organisations is still
proving successful.
4.9
Maritime Museum, Great Yarmouth
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
5,740
5,350
4,880
Attendances at the Maritime Museum continued to decline, at a similar level
to previous years at approximately 8%. This was the last year the Maritime
Museum would be open to the public and promoting it’s final month in the
media created a surge of visits from local people and positive feedback on
the plans to transfer exhibits to the new Tower Curing Works.
4.10
Lynn Museum, King’s Lynn
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
9,510
8,450
7,080
As reported last year overall attendances are declining at the Lynn Museum.
Monthly figures indicate that when there are good quality temporary
exhibitions, the rate can be decelerated but the overall attendances are
decreasing by approximately 1000 visits each year. Work towards the redevelopment of the Lynn Museum is moving on.
4.11
Town House, King’s Lynn
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
9,730
9,420
7,300
Over the past few years attendances at the Town House Museum have
been declining and this year there has been a sharp decrease. The Town
House, along with Tales Of The Gaol House, was developed around a
decade ago and both are suffering a gradual decline and are in need of
investment and refurbishment of displays.
4.12
Cromer Museum
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
17,900
18,060
16,330
Visitor figures for Cromer museum have been gradually declining for several
years at a rate of approximately 4% per annum. The Free in February
promotion once again yielded over 2,000 attendances compared to an
average winter month bringing in 300-500.
The Museum did not close as anticipated for re-development during 200203, but is due to close in the current financial year.
4.13
Ancient House Museum, Thetford
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
10,560
8,740
8,440
Another museum where attendances have been declining over the past few
years. Free admission has decelerated, but not stopped the decline. Plans
have been drawn up for re-developing the museum and an application for
funding has recently been made to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
4.14
Norfolk Rural Life Museum
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
40,880
34,691 (July – Mar)
25,500 (July – Mar)
42,490 (Apr - Mar)
This is the NRLM’s best year ever for visits, the outturn being 4% higher
than the previous full year (1999-00) when there were a significant number
of free attendances.
The re-development of the museum, a lively events programme on Sundays
and in the holidays along with an extended opening season have all
contributed to the growth in visits.
5
FREE ADMISSION
Several groups of people are eligible for free admission to NMAS museums,
including, young children, schools from low income areas, members of
museum or tourist associations (e.g. Blue Badge Guides). Our Education
Department also arranges free visits when it is working with groups of
disadvantaged people and those with special needs.
People who have purchased subscriptions for Museum Pass of various
Friends schemes have not been included in the following figures.
The percentage of free visits is as follows:Ancient House Museum
84%
Kings Lynn Museums
37%
Cromer Museum
24%
Norfolk Rural Life Museum
21%
Norwich Museums
12%
Great Yarmouth Museums
18%
6
ANNUAL MUSEUM PASS
In 2001-02 a new annual ticket for regular visitors was introduced and rebranded as the Norfolk Museums Pass.

Approximately 900 households benefited from the previous Season



Ticket each year.
Of these 300 immediately purchased a Museums Pass in July 2001.
By July 2002 the number of Museum Passes had risen to 1,700
households.
During the course of 2002-03 a total of 1,340 households renewed or
purchased new Museum Passes.
However the renewal rate is only 40% which is very low for this type of
scheme. We currently believe this is due to the Museum Service not having
access to a Direct Debit facility, whereby subscribers pay automatically from
their bank. In other comparable schemes it is usual for 70% of subscribers
to pay using direct debit facilities. It is understood that the County Council's
new financial management system, FIMS, will provide a direct debit facility
with effect from April 2004.
7
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
The following figures show the percentage of the total visits made by
students and teachers from schools and colleges. These figures do not
include pupils and students who benefit from outreach work undertaken by
the Education Department.
The percentage of school/college visits is as follows:-
Norfolk Rural Life
Museum
Norwich Museums
Cromer Museum
Great Yarmouth
Museums
Kings Lynn
Museums
Ancient House
Museum
8
Actual visits
% of all visits to that
museum
% of school visits to
the whole service
11,150
29%
33%
13,200
4,000
2,500
8%
22%
14%
39%
12%
7.5%
2,000
14%
6%
1,000
10%
3%
RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
(a)
Finance
Commercial income (admissions and shop
sales) accounts for 16.2% of revenue funding.
Income from admissions accounts for 57% of
NMAS total earned income. Admission plus
shop sales accounts for 82% of total earned
income.
(b)
Property
Increasing visitor numbers increases wear
and tear and therefore has an impact on
maintenance and requires investment in
replenishing and refurbishing displays,
particularly popular interactive displays and
computer/video interpretation
Regular investment into museum property
and displays is also imperative if visitor
numbers are to be maintained.
9
(c)
Staff
At peak times staff in several museums are
under considerable pressure to service the
number of visitors. Increases in visitor
numbers has implications for increased
expenditure on staff.
(d)
Information
Technology
The Databox admissions and marketing
system has now been extended to NRLM.
CONCLUSION
Overall attendance figures for the year are positive. With the larger sites
now fully open visitor figures are again reaching the level attained in the predevelopment period.
In 2002-03 the large increase in visitors to Norwich Castle experienced in
2001 has settled down at approximately 7% above pre-closure figures.
Investment over the past few years in Norwich Castle, NRLM, Tolhouse and
the Elizabethan House has resulted in a high-quality experience that can be
successfully marketed to maintain visitor numbers.
Increased competition in Norwich, from Norwich Castle, Origins and other
leisure developments on Riverside have had a significant impact on the
smaller Norwich museums, which were enjoying a renaissance during the
Castle’s closure.
Visits to the yet undeveloped museums in the county continue to decline at
approximately 10% per annum. Whilst the rate of decline may fluctuate from
year to year, the general trend downwards for these museums is not likely to
change until they have been refurbished.
10
RECOMMENDATION
That members note this report.
Originator:
Charles Wilde
Development and Marketing Officer
Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service
Email: charles.wilde@norfolk.gov.uk
Tel:
01603 493653
Annex 1 - Admission Prices Norfolk Museums 2003-04
Norwich Castle
All Galleries
Adults
Concession
Young People
Adult (Family Group)
Child ( Family Group)
Schools (one price)
Adult on Benefits
£4.95
£4.50
£3.95
£4.45
£3.55
£2.00
£3.00
Castle & History
Zone
£3.00
£2.70
£2.40
£2.70
£2.15
N/A
£2.00
Groups discount = 8% (peak periods) or 17% (off peak periods)
Adults
Concession/Groups
Young People
Family Group
Strangers Hall
Adults
Concession/Groups
Young People
Regimental
Museum
£2.00
£1.60
£1.20
£5.00
Bridewell
Museum
£2.00
£1.60
£1.20
£5.00
£2.50
£2.00
£1.50
Norfolk Rural Life Museum
Adults
£5.45
Concession/Groups
£4.95
Young People
£4.35
Family Group
£17.60
Great Yarmouth
Museums
Adults
Concession/Groups
Young People
Family Group
Elizabethan
House
£2.60
£2.00
£1.30
£6.00
Tolhouse
Museum
£2.60
£2.00
£1.30
£6.00
Kings Lynn
Museums
Adults
Concession/Groups
Young People
Lynn Museum
Town House
Museum
£1.80
£1.40p
£0.90p
Cromer Museum
Adults
Concession/Groups
Young People
£1.00
£0.80p
£0.60p
£1.80
£1.40p
£0.90p
Art and
Exhibitions Zone
£3.00
£2.70
£2.40
£2.70
£2.15
N/A
£2.00
Guided Tours
£1.30
£1.10
£0.90
£1.10
£0.80
N/A
£0.80