plummeting visitor numbers to museums

The local government is unaware of the actual figures of visitors to local museums, namely the decline that has occurred with the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of the Department of Exhibitions and Museums of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Sam Hou In, admitted when questioned by the media on the matter.

When questioned on the topic, the official said, “It’s very difficult to find a general figure, as there are many museums and according to their characteristics, as well as the location, they might have been influenced in different ways,” adding, “The only thing we can say with certainty it that it [the number of visitors] declined.”

The comments from the government official were made during the press conference that launched the 2022 Museum Day Carnival, held yesterday afternoon at the Macau Grand Prix Museum.

Although eight representatives from different museum spaces in Macau were present in the room, they did not express a wish to add to Sam’s comments, with the exception of the director of the Macao Museum, Lou Ho Ian, who told the media that, historically, the museum has always had a mix of visitors composed of around 50% of local residents and 50% of tourists. She advanced that the numbers of visitors to the museum have plummeted to about 18% of pre-pandemic times.

“Back in 2018 and 2019, we had around 500,000 visitors per year in the Macao Museum, a figure that dropped to about 100,000 per year in 2020, and last year [we only had] about 90,000,” Lou explained in more detail.

The most recent figure accounts for a drop of 82% in the total number of visitors to the museum located in the heart of the historical center, inside Monte Fort and just a few steps away from the most famous touristic landmark, the Ruins of Saint Paul’s. RM