Visitor flow to cultural sites

When visiting a cultural site locally or abroad, have you ever observed or questioned the way visitors move within the resource? Do visitors follow a defined route? What causes congestion? Does visitor flow influence overall satisfaction?

Visitor flow is an aspect of visitor management which concerns the way visitors move within a given space. To date, visitor management in Malta has been and is carried out in a very sporadic manner, as there are relatively few guidelines and manuals that are easily available. Consequently, this does not fulfil the full potential of the cultural resources available.

What are the key factors to take into consideration when managing visitor flow on a cultural site? The design of an efficient visitor flow within a site requires a thorough understanding of the site and of visitor exigencies. The growth of the cultural tourist segment conversely implies that tourism resources, especially cultural sites, are becoming heavily congested.

Therefore, equilibrium must be established between visitor access and the long-term sustainability of the site to prevent the eventual damage or complete loss of the cultural resource.

The management of a site is multi-faceted and is possible through the establishment of a multi-disciplinary management team headed by the site manager (also known as the museum or site curator), whose primary duty is to reach consensual decisions on the best visitor management approach, implement it and conduct a regular and ongoing evaluation of its efficiency and economic viability.

At every stage, feedback from the stakeholders of the site should be obtained to ensure that the optimal solution is implemented. Stakeholders may include the government, private sector businesses, developers, NGOs, local authorities and community groups, each presenting a wide spectrum of interests.

Visitors are attracted to sites because of values they attach to them. These may range from cultural and social to commercial and economic. For example, World Heritage Sites such as the Megalithic Temples and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum interest visitors for their outstanding universal significance or for their high rarity value. A thorough knowledge of these values is important in planning visitor flow.

Visitors co-own heritage and therefore have a right to see and experience it. These are the main reason why sites are opened and sustained.

The site manager should identify and project the actual and expected number of visitors.

Visitors come from different cultural and demographic backgrounds. Knowing the current and prospective profile of the audiences visiting the sites is important to identify their level of understanding of the site and their possible expectations and interest in culture and the expected duration of the visit.

People are attracted towards a cultural resource for various reasons, ranging from mere curiosity to educational entertainment. The visitor's demand for attractions is constantly growing and mutating, so it is difficult to predict precise expectations.

The challenge for many site managers is to provide a quality product for a diverse market. Managing a site involves managing the resource and visitor. Visitors to a site add to the financial revenue and economic value of the cultural asset. Yet visitors can concurrently increase the managing costs, since the site should operate and maintain the facilities to prevent damage and guarantee a quality experience. The management team should therefore assess and balance the costs and benefits in the running of a site.

Before embarking on any specific visitor management solution, it is essential for the management team to explore and assess the efficiency of alternative options in visitor flow management. This should be done with constant consultation with the respective stakeholders of the site and of others indirectly connected.

Visitor management is an area of concern to every site manager, as it strongly impacts on the state of conservation of the site and the visitor's satisfaction. Site managers should be aware of possible pitfalls and learn from problems encountered on comparable sites.

Ms Anastasi works as an executive within Heritage Malta's Projects Management Office. She has completed her Masters degree in Cultural Heritage Management at the Institute of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage, the teaching and research arm of Heritage Malta. Heritage Malta is a member of ICOM Malta, which provides voluntary information on the care and safe keeping of collections and promotes a best practice approach to museum standards. If you are a museum professional, NGO, private collector or interested in knowing more about ICOM Malta, call 7909 3948 or e-mail heritage_enterprise@onvol.net.