Museums see 70% drop in revenue due to pandemic

 

Nancy Shukri visiting Muzium Negara earlier this year. She says museums are part of cultural tourism products capable of boosting the country’s economy. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Museums in Malaysia suffered a drastic drop in revenue as visitors declined by over 70% in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri said today.

She said exhibitions like “Miracle of Taxidermy Exhibition: The Eternal Life” by the Department of Museums Malaysia (JMM) were held to encourage the public to visit museums, in line with her ministry’s slogan of “Coming Back Stronger”.

“It is to ensure that the tourism and culture sector can recover and rise again after the Covid-19 pandemic. Museums are part of cultural tourism products capable of boosting the country’s economy.

“In 2019, JMM, through its 22 museums and exhibitions, managed to collect RM3.708 million in revenue, 42.5% more than the previous year.

“The rise coincided with the number of visitors that year, which reached 2.782 million people,” she said during the launch of the exhibition here.

She said she would continue to support the department’s efforts to develop natural history museums ever since it was approved by the Cabinet in 1989 so that the country would not lag behind other regional neighbours like Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Nancy also launched the Artefact Donation Campaign by JMM to encourage the public to donate personal artefacts of historical, artistic, cultural and natural value to museums.

“Efforts to preserve and protect artefacts of great value to the country from the risk of loss, damage and destruction is in line with the three cores of the National Culture Policy, heritage conservation, development and expansion as well as empowerment of culture,” she said. - FMT