National Survey for Scotland's Museums & Galleries
The National Survey for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries was commissioned by Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) and conducted by DC Research in mid-2022, to gather essential information about the museums and galleries sector in Scotland.This was the first sector-wide survey of this scale in twenty years and provides a baseline of sector priorities and needs, as well as highlighting the impact of the pandemic on the museums and galleries sector.
Key Findings
The survey demonstrates clearly how the sector has been affected by the pandemic –: 5.2 million visits in 2021-22, and 12.8 million in 2019- 20, with a drop in international visitors, but an increase of local visitors.
Volunteers: Respondents were asked to compare the current situation with volunteers to two years ago, prior to the pandemic – 47% of respondents reported they have a smaller number of volunteers, with 41% reporting that they have around the same number of volunteers. Only 12% reported having a greater number of volunteers.
Two-thirds (64%) of the sector report that they actively engage in the health and wellbeing agenda through targeted programmes.
Families are the most proactively targeted group for museums to engage with and tailor programming to (73% reported this), followed by older people (61%), closely followed by those living in deprived areas (58%) and youth engagement (also 58%). The proportion of international visitors dropped from 34% in 2019-20 to just 12% in 2021-22. Conversely, the proportion of national visitors has increased from 38% to 51% whilst the proportion of local people has increased from 28% to 36%.
Resilience: The past few years have been a challenging time for the sector. The survey indicates a strong need for support and resources around retaining workforce and meeting skills gaps, and prioritising capital spend, particularly in terms of energy efficiency and climate resilience.
The climate emergency is critical to the resilience of museums and galleries. This is reflected in the survey results which show that 79% of respondents describe climate change and sustainability as critically, very, or moderately important.
