Bath MuseumsWorking Together

Anna BryantBath Museums Co-ordinator

Bath Museums 2015

Structure• Core partnership of 4 museum

organisations, encompassing the ‘big 6’ museums in Bath (and 3 smaller sites)

• Consulting partnership with 4 other museums

• Result: all 13 Accredited museums in partnership

Origins, 2013• Partnership of big 3 independent museums,

with informal reach to all museums• Responded to an opportunity• ACE grant of £427k received over 2 years to

develop audiences• Marketing, market research, interpretation

and community engagement activity

Key Aims

• Creating a sustainable and resilient museum community in Bath working collaboratively for mutual success in increasing audiences and associated financial benefit

• Achieving a higher profile museum sector in Bath, with more visibility in a crowded market

• Strengthening the museum culture in Bath, where a collective vision and purpose are understood to be key to the delivery of a quality visitor experience

Once upon a time…

• No one could even say how many museums there were in Bath!

• Numerous museums, heritage attractions, NT sites, all in 11sq miles

• Dominated by the Roman Baths• Little strategic understanding of

actual/potential visitors, to help increase

Telling our story

Two pronged approach to telling our story well - and getting others to do so too: -Internal-ExternalFor growth in visitors; opportunities to collaborate; to maximise our resources; impact and resilience.

Internal: city/stakeholders

• Considerable joint research• Whole is greater than sum of parts• Making ourselves more visible• Acting as/being seen as a sector

• Bath Museums have 430k visitors/year (ex. Roman Baths)• 21% are local, 27% day trippers, 52% on holiday• Average overnight stay is 3.25 nights – Bath average is 2.47• Of those on holiday 84% are staying in hotels and guesthouses• 80% of visitors are from the UK• 38% were motivated to visit Bath by the museums to some degree• 98% said the whole experience was good or very good• 98% said the staff were good or very good at welcoming them• £16m – value of tourism impacts of museum visits to local and

regional economy• 45% of accommodation bookers with BTP are from very culturally

engaged segments• Bath Museums have worked in partnership with: the BID, Thermae

Bath Spa, Bath Bus Co, National Trust, Jane Austen Centre, Sally Lunn’s and BIGHA

External: visitors/visitor facing

• Joint marketing activity (based on research)• Easier to find us and explore more• Being coherent - isn’t the same as being

indistinguishable from each other• Shared tone of voice, brand, photography• Confidence in Accreditation grouping

The Museums of Bath offer a feast of remarkable stories all within walking distance. From the glamour of Bath’s hotspots, such as the famous Roman Baths, No. 1 Royal Crescent and Fashion Museum, to the story of the city’s inventiveness at Bath Postal Museum, Museum of Bath at Work, and Museum of Bath Architecture. There is breath-taking art at the Holburne Museum, Victoria Art Gallery, Museum of East Asian Art and the American Museum, while astronomy and discovery can be found at the Herschel Museum and Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. Stunning views of Bath’s landscape are seen from many museums, especially from Beckford’s Tower.

Beyond 2015

• 5 year plan for working together – funded?• Still more to do – results take time• Mustn’t lose momentum• Partnerships are the future of funding

Key Lessons Learnt

• Can’t be strategic and in competition in Bath – see the whole picture• Keep size of partnership board manageable – ours is 6• Being open and collaborative takes a shift in thinking• Long game – results and attitudes!• Talk it up! Becomes self-fulfilling, people talk to and about you• Do lots of research – enables strategic, evidence based activity and

case for support• Evaluate!• A clear and coherent offer is welcomed by visitors to Bath and our key

recommenders – work on it!• Co-ordinator role essential