Track: Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has unpredictably disrupted the operations of numerous museums. Museum visitor experience has a physical, personal, and social context, which are not achievable during the pandemic. Despite the depreciation during the Circuit Breaker period, the disruption also presents an opportunity for local museums to develop new strategies of audience engagement to accommodate the altered audience behavior. This exploratory study analyses data from six Singapore-based museums to understand the visitorship patterns across different ages and genders. The impact of COVID-19 is also analysed. Using R-studio and relevant packages, we conducted statistical tests such as hypothesis testing, Chi-square testing and regression. It was concluded that overall, museums attracted a younger demographic compared to the general Singapore population, and male visitors were more likely to visit more than once. Furthermore, the average number of visitors in the second half of 2020, after a nation-wide COVID-19 stay-home order, was found to be statistically greater than the average number of visitors before. An interactive R Shiny app was also designed to allow users to explore the visitor profile of each museum.