A large crowd in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art shows how the museum has become one of the major art destinations in the world. Photo: Majonaise

TRAVEL & TOURISM

The increase in the number of tourists visiting museums, galleries, and art fairs across the globe has set up a contest among art institutions determined to become top art destinations. [UPDATED]

BY KAZAD

In the last five years, there has been a general increase in the number of visitors to museums, galleries, and art fairs across the globe. A major percentage of these visitors are foreigners on vacation. In addition to helping these art institutions earn bragging rights, they have also engendered some financial benefits.

With the benefits accruing from foreign visitors, it is not surprising that galleries, museums, and art institutions are doing their best to become top art destinations for art lovers. From hosting major exhibitions about famous artists to other blockbuster shows, these art establishments are determined to turn their art institutions into key tourist destinations.

Best Art Destinations for Lovers

In 2017, The Metropolitan Museum of Art attracted more than 7 million visitors. A major part of the visitors were tourists visiting New York. More than 7 million art lovers visited the museum because of the varied and plentiful exhibition programs presented by the Met museum. Some of the shows included Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven, Max Beckmann in New York, Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.–A.D. 220), and Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.  Others were The Roof Garden Commission: Adrián Villar Rojas, The Theater of Disappearance, Irving Penn: Centennial, Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology, The Roof Garden Commission: Cornelia Parker, Transitional Object (Psycho Barn), Diane Arbus: in the beginning,  Kerry James Marshall: Mastry and Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Continues to Grow

The Metropolitan Museum of Art continues to attract more visitors to the museum. Just last week the museum announced a record attendance of 7.35 million visitors for this fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2018.  This marks a 5 percent increase from the record 7m visitors last year. The increase is in spite of the recent ups and downs, including Thomas Campbell’s resignation as director and the introduction of steep admission fees. The attendance recorded covers the museum’s three spaces in New York—the main building on Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer, and the Met Cloisters.

In a statement announcing the record attendance, the museum notes that the record attendance is largely from the show Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, which started on November 13, 2017, and runs through February 12, 2019. The show is the museum’s tenth-highest attended exhibition and drew a crowd of 702,516 visitors.  The show was close to surpassing Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art that attracted 703,526 visitors to the museum in 2010.

In addition to the record attendance, the museum also announced that it made record financial gains through philanthropy, gifts, and donations. According to the Met, it received more than $250m through philanthropic and membership gifts and government support. This tops the $200m it received in the last fiscal year. The new records are reasons for celebrations at the Met. “These offerings not only resonate with our visitors but also inspire extraordinary support,” noted Daniel Weiss, President and Chief Executive Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Museums are aware of the importance of attracting tourists and are curating innovative exhibitions.

Many museums are aware of the importance of attracting tourists and are, therefore, curating innovative exhibitions that will turn their venues to major art destinations. The Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Art, Tate Modern, London, England, and Le Louvre, Paris, France, have become some of the top art destinations in the world because of the amazing shows and works they have on display including those from their collections.

But the art institutions mentioned above are not the only ones creating exciting shows. Other art institutions are also immersed in their effort to captivate art lovers. The  Smithsonian Institution, Washington, The Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece, State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia, The British Museum, London, England, The Prado, Madrid, Spain, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, The Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy are important examples. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, California, Musee d‘Orsay, Paris, France, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, London, England, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. have also stepped up their effort to attract a large audience.

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The increase in the number of art visitors to museums and other art institutions around the globe in the last five years indicates an upward swing and an attestation of how art institutions are using blockbuster exhibitions to attract tourists and art lovers. In 2016, approximately 7.4 million people visited the Musée du Louvre in 2016, with a total of almost 7.8 million including visitors to the Louvre Lens.  Almost 70% of the museum’s visitors were foreign, which explains the impact of the international tourist flow on the museum’s visitor numbers. In addition to France, other countries best represented at the Louvre were the United States, China, Great Britain, Italy, and Germany. Twenty Seventeen brought even greater visitors.

Art Destinations: Economic Impact of Blockbuster Exhibitions

The economic impact of art tourism on countries cannot be overstated. Art institutions are not only determined to become the top art destinations in the world, they are also boosting the economy of their cities and countries by using art and cultural events to attract tourists worldwide. Furthermore, many countries are also taking advantage of the growth in art tourism to make their nations the focus of the attention of tourists in search of art destinations.

From Italy to the United Kingdom, there has been a surge in the effort to attract art tourists with new incentives and innovations.  In addition to the effort of art institutions to get their exhibitions noticed internationally, individual countries are also promoting the activities of their museums internationally.  But the promotions are not limited to blockbuster exhibitions alone. There has also been an increase in the promotions of art fairs, biennales, and art festivals.

As 2018 begins, most museums have continued their effort to attract visitors through major shows.  Tate has major blockbusters including The EY Exhibition: Picasso 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy, Modigliani, and John Piper. Also at the MET is Edvard Munch: Between the Clock and the Bed, Rodin at the MET, and Obsession: Nudes by Klimt, Schiele, and Picasso from the Scofield Thayer Collection. With these shows and many others across the world, there are clear indications that there will be an increase in the number of visitors to museums, galleries, and art fairs this year.

Here are some of the best Contemporary Art Festivals and art events around the globe.

• ARCO (Madrid)
• Armory Show (New York)
• Ars Electronica (Linz)
• Art Basel
• Art Basel Miami Beach
• Berlin Biennale
• Art Dubai
• Bodypainting Festival
• Dak’Art Biennial
• Documenta
• Edinburgh Festival
• Florence Biennale
• Frieze Art Fair (London)
• Galway Arts Festival
• Harbin Snow Sculpture Festival
• India Art Fair
• Istanbul Biennale
• Japan Media Arts Festival
• Quebec Winter Festival
• Sandfest
• Sao Paulo Art Biennial
• Sapporo Snow Festival
• SH Contemporary (Shanghai)
• Shanghai Biennial
• Sydney Biennial
• TEFAF (Maastricht)
• Vancouver Sculpture Biennale
• Venice Biennale
• Whitney Biennial

Art Destinations Tourism: Have you visited a museum recently? What was your experience? Share your thoughts. Leave a  comment.

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