Museum education as tourism product
A national study examining whether museum education can be interpreted as a tourism product. Drawing on the literature, international best practice and roundtables with cultural and tourism professionals, we built a proprietary criteria system, then assessed sessions on site across 24 institutions. The study set out the developments needed for tourism use and the actors required to deliver them.
Based on on-site assessment of 24 institutions, we defined the conditions under which museum education can be interpreted as a tourism product.
Project detail
The project examined the links between education (museum education) and tourism: can museum education be considered a tourism product, and if so, which directions could strengthen this link , and if not, how could the museums' educational service be developed into a tourism product. Based on the literature, international best practices and roundtable discussions with cultural and tourism professionals, we created a proprietary criteria system showing the conditions under which a museum-education service is interpretable from a tourism perspective. We carried out on-site visits in 24 institutions and assessed the sessions along this system. The result: the developments needed for tourism utilisation and the key actors required to deliver them. The work connects academic analysis with practical, on-the-ground experience.