Te Papa considers charging overseas visitors an entry fee
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
Te Papa is considering charging overseas visitors an entry fee as it battles rising costs.
Kate Camp, a spokesperson for the national museum in Wellington, said New Zealanders were exempt from the proposal.
“Te Papa is actively considering charging international visitors in the future. No decisions have been made, we’re currently analysing how charging international visitors might work.
“Entry will always be free for New Zealanders,” Camp said.
“This is one way for us to offset our rising costs, and continue to offer a high quality free experience for New Zealanders.”
Te Papa would not put forward any of its executive team for an interview, saying the proposal was still at an early stage.
More than 1.5 million people visit Te Papa every year — it’s the most visited art gallery in New Zealand, and is regularly billed as a top tourist attraction for international visitors to Wellington.
It consistently rates as one of the top museums on the planet: in 2017 TripAdvisor ranked it the 19th best in the world.
Entry has been free for everyone to Te Papa since it opened in 1998. However, the museum does host short term blockbuster exhibitions and events, which guests have to buy tickets for.
Its most recent paid exhibition was Dinosaurs of Patagonia/Ngā Taniwha o Rūpapa, which closed last weekend.
About 91,000 people bought tickets for that over its four month run time.
Adele Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Museums Aotearoa, the membership organisation representing museums and galleries, said all cultural institutions were in different situations when it came to whether they charged, and if so how much.
“Location, size, offering, ownership models and funding models all factor. There isn’t one fix-all answer and our institutions have different ways of trying to achieve sustainability,” Fitzpatrick said.
“The reality is that all museums and galleries are facing similar problems with sharp increases in costs. I know many are reviewing the ways they can generate additional revenue, but there are very few levers to pull.”
Earlier this month the Department of Internal Affairs ruled that museums and galleries wouldn’t have to pay levies to Fire and Emergency NZ on the insured value of their collections from July 2026, when a redesigned insurance levy begins.
Museums Aotearoa was relieved at that news, saying insurance for some museums had tripled in recent years and an additional levy would add a financial burden which the sector wouldn’t be able to sustain.
Last year The Post revealed that Te Papa reduced its insurance premiums in a bid to cut costs, taking building damage cover for a 1-in-250 year event instead of the previous 1-in-1000 year event.
Te Papa took a significant hit to its commercial revenue streams as a result of Covid-19, which made up about 40% of its income before the pandemic.
Te Papa receives about $42 million from the Government each year, but that figure hasn’t increased since 2019.
The museum employs more than 600 staff from scientists to pastry chefs and it cares for more than 2.2 million objects, from ancient fossils to digital artworks.
It’s open every day except Christmas Day.