APPENDIX 17
Memorandum submitted by the National Maritime
Museum
I am grateful for an opportunity to comment
to the Select Committee on this important Inquiry. The text below
restricts itself to the key issues:
My chief observation is that there is already
data to show that ABC1 (traditional) visitors are being recycled
by free admission; we are not yet clear about the proportion of
genuinely new visitors; penetration into C2DEs is marginal; likewise,
benefits for ethnic minority visitors are modest, as are gains
in the numbers of ethnic minorities visiting our institutions.
There is thus emerging data to support a contention that free
entry is leading to shorter dwell times. The implications of this
are far from clear, but—if upheld—could lead us to
re-evaluate our displays strategies, retail offers and other factors,
with ramifications for costs and for revenue earning. We already
know that greater footfall does not equal greater income from
retail and catering, while some Visitor Services costs are already
slightly higher. Attracting a genuinely broader audience will
also require investment.
The impact on non-charging organisations extends
beyond NMDC members; those of us co-located with charging organisations
(or associated with them as, for example, is the NMM through the
UKMCS) are daily reminded of the impact our free gate is having
on their revenues. This is not good for the wider sustainability
of UK's cultural institutions and other organisations such as
science centres and the like. It is possible to see this as opposing
the thrust of Renaissance in the Regions.
There is also the rather more anecdotal reaction
of potential donors and sponsors, several of whom have since 1
December 2001 cited free entry compensation in excusing their
unwillingness to support. This issue may be a blip, or it could
be more related to September 11, but is one with long term consequences
if it endures.
I am in no doubt that free entry has potentially
positive benefits, but these lie beyond mere footfall statistics
and not all of the imagined benefits have been realised to date.
And some may even be outweighed. Targeted free entry (based on
postcodes perhaps), combined with charges for those who can afford
it (including tourists) may be a goal for the future. Publicly,
the NMM has "suspended" entry charges, not scrapped
them.
23 October 2002
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