In anticipation of a new administration taking office, the United States began to suffer a steep decline in its perception as a desirable travel destination among international audiences. Here’s a look at the most recent data, and what this means for museums and performing arts organizations. In our article at the turn of the year, Four Trends We’re Watching in 2025 for Cultural Organizations, we showed data on an alarming trend for cultural organizations: The decline in intentions to travel to the United States for leisure purposes. IMPACTS Experience monitors 224 visitor-serving organization ..read more

Here’s what visitors say was the primary purpose of their visit to exhibit-based and performing arts organizations – and why understanding these motivations matters for cultural leaders. One of the best parts about meeting people who work in cultural organizations is to hear how special their work is to them. In those conversations, we often hear stories of what we call “spark moments,” those formative experiences that spurred someone’s interest in doing the work that they do. Whether it was coming face to face with dinosaur bones for the first time, hearing the orchestra sound the opening not ..read more

What advantages are working in cultural organizations’ favor – and what challenges must they work to overcome? Here’s the data on headwinds and tailwinds for aquariums, art museums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, history museums, natural history museums, science centers and museums, zoos, theaters, symphonies and orchestras, and other performing arts. Cultural organizations do not exist in a vacuum, and the perceptions that people have about a certain type of organization – or even more broadly about cultural organizations in general – will affect their expectations of a visit and pote ..read more

Cultural organizations need to expand their audiences to sustain long-term attendance. But just how urgent is this need? Here’s the data for eleven different cultural organization types. Why do cultural organizations need to consider expanding their audiences? It’s not only a question of diversity and inclusion but also a business imperative. As the population of the United States continues to evolve and shift, fewer people match the historic profile of an active cultural organization visitor – meaning that if cultural organizations aren’t able to expand their respective visitor profiles, ther ..read more

What might cultural organizations expect in terms of attendance in 2025 and 2026? Here’s the data. Read on for the expected attendance levels for 2025 and 2026, quantified individually by organization type for aquariums, art museums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, history museums, natural history museums, science museums, zoos, orchestras, theaters, and other performing arts entities. Though the tumult of the 2024 election cycle is finally behind us, the unforeseen happenings of 2025 didn’t waste any time getting started. From waiting with baited breath for what thankfully turned out t ..read more

From data on optimal admission pricing to marketing budgets to creating a welcoming guest experience, here are the most discussed and referenced articles from IMPACTS Experience in 2024. It’s that time of year, folks! This annual countdown has been a pre-New Year’s tradition on Know Your Own Bone for thirteen years. (That’s bananas!) As we all get ready to put 2024 behind us and bring new hopes and plans into 2025, our team at IMPACTS Experience has stopped to take stock of the articles cultural executives found most valuable this year. It’s been a big year over here! We’ve comp ..read more

We’ll be keeping a close eye on these findings in the coming year. 2024 was a big year with a major election, and 2025 will be even more critical as the coming change in administration and its associated policies and sentiments potentially begins to affect guests’ priorities and behaviors. Rest assured, we at IMPACTS Experience will continue to monitor the ongoing pulse of cultural organizations and the metrics many of you have come to rely upon. However, there are four important trends we already see emerging as we head into 2025, from international travel to member and subscriber renewals to ..read more

While acknowledging that each respective organization has its own unique value proposition, here is the research concerning a likely visitor’s tolerance for online transaction fees – including the average amount that can be charged without unduly risking an abandoned transaction and eroding an organization’s market potential.  Some of our most read and shared articles this year were about optimal data-informed admission pricing. In 2024, we covered topics ranging from an overview of pricing strategies to best practices for securing a pricing study, and even whether or not cultural organiz ..read more

It may be more than you think. Here’s the data segmented for eleven types of cultural organizations, and what institutions need to know about these valuable audiences and the factors impacting their planning processes and decisions. At IMPACTS Experience, we are in market on an ongoing basis to understand the top reasons why some people with an interest in attending cultural organizations do not actually visit. Cultural organizations tend to know a great deal about the people who already attend, but what about those valuable inactive visitors who do not? Access challenges – “the hassle” of vis ..read more

Interactions with staff or volunteers at a museum or performing arts organization have the power to either make or break a guest’s experience. But just how important are these interactions, and what kinds of interactions have the biggest impact? Here’s the data segmented for exhibit-based and performing arts organizations.  It’s no secret that guest satisfaction matters for museums and performing arts organizations. Research shows that higher guest satisfaction ratings correlate with repeat attendance, likelihood to endorse an organization, likelihood to support an organization, and an or ..read more