Franceschini meets with super museum directors and rattles off reform numbers

50 million euros more in receipts than between 2013 and 2016, a trend of +13.5 percent growth for 2017, visitors to museums managed by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage rising from 38.4 million in 2013 to 45.5 million in 2016 with a growth of 18.5 percent, and a target of 50 million for 2017. These are some of the numbers that the minister of cultural heritage, Dario Franceschini, rattled off yesterday at a meeting with some of the directors of the 30 autonomous museums (the “supermuseums” created by the Franceschini-Renzi reform of cultural heritage) held at the Collegio Romano, MiBACT headquarters.

The 30 museums then registered a 28.4 percent growth in revenue between 2016 and 2013, and recorded 19.3 percent more visitors. The growth is also confirmed for 2017: the trend records +14% for revenues, +11% for visitors. The region with the best percentage increases in 2017 was Liguria with a +22.7 percent increase in visitors, followed by Puglia (+18.3 percent) and Veneto (+20 percent).

“This is truly an exciting balance,” said Dario Franceschini. “It’s just over two years that the directors have been working, they have changed the face of their museums, they have linked the museums to the cities and not only to tourists, scientific activities and restorations have grown, the state has invested about a billion euros for interventions in the museums, and above all there has been a huge increase in visitors, in contrast to what has happened in Europe, this year we will touch 50 million having started from 38 million only in the state’s museums and archaeological parks. This is just the beginning of a journey but it is proof that investing in culture does good to people and souls, but it also does a lot of good to the economies of our cities.”

Franceschini went on to claim the results of his own autonomy, considering it an important breakthrough that museums, from being offices of the superintendencies, have gained autonomy. For the future, the minister hopes to be able to initiate new staff hires to cover shortages in the ministry’s (now chronic) workforce. A report on the meeting can be downloaded from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage website.

Franceschini meets with super museum directors and rattles off reform numbers

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