Valuing congestion costs in small museums: the case of the Rubenshuis Museum in Antwerp Juliana Salazar Borda Master Cultural Economics & Cultural Entrepreneurship Faculteit der Historische en Kunstwetenschappen Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
[email protected] Supervisor: Dr. F.R.R. Vermeylen Second Reader: Dr. A. Klamer 2007 Summary Within the methodological framework of Contingent Valuation (CV), the purpose of this research was to find in the Rubenshuis Museum the ‘congestion cost’ or the amount visitors are willing to pay in order to avoid too many people inside. A number of 200 site interviews with museum visitors, either entering or leaving the museum, were made. The analysis of the results showed a strong tendency of visitors to prefer not congested situations. However, their WTP more for the ticket was low (€1.33 in average). It was also found that if visitors were women, were older, were better educated and had a bad experience at the museum, the WTP went up. In addition, those visitors who were in their way out of the museum showed a higher WTP than those ones who were in their way in. Other options to diminish congestion were also asked to visitors. Extra morning and night opening hours were the most popular ones among the sample, which is an alert to the museum to start thinking in improving its services. The Rubenshuis Museum is a remarkable example of how congestion can be handled in order to have a better experience. That was reflected in the answers visitors gave about congestion. In general, even if the museum had a lot of attendance, people were very pleased with the experience and they were amply capable to enjoy the collection.