Courtney Johnston, The case for charging Te Papa’s overseas visitors, The Post, 17 August 2024
From mid September, international visitors will pay $35 to enter and explore Te Papa.
Courtney Johnston is the chief executive and co-leader of Te Papa.
OPINION: Te Papa will always be free for New Zealanders. But from September 17 we will be charging international visitors an entry fee.
As the national museum, Te Papa is partly funded by the Crown, but needs to raise at least $30 million each year through commercial activities.
Paid-for exhibitions bring a lot of cool stuff to Aotearoa, from dinosaurs to designer fashion, but they are not big earners for the museum. The main income streams for Te Papa are more mundane – the three Cs of car parks, cafes and conferences.
The income we earn needs to go a long way. With a building the size of six rugby fields, our power and insurance bills are equally large. We care for two million collection items and host more than a million people a year. So the money we make has to stretch pretty far to keep the shine on this national treasure.
We are proud of the experience we offer. It’s rigorously researched, thought provoking and fun. Don’t take our word for it – hop on to TripAdvisor and read the rave reviews, or check our rating as the number one attraction in the country. In a world of conflicting opinions, one thing people seem to agree on is that Te Papa is a great day out.
So the case for charging overseas visitors is pretty simple. By paying for this world leading experience, they help keep Te Papa awesome, and keep it free for New Zealanders.
International tourists are currently paying $32 at Auckland Museum, $26 at Zealandia, $42 for a trip up the Sky Tower and $120 to visit Hobbiton. After benchmarking and research, we’ve settled on a $35 entry charge for Te Papa, for international visitors aged 16 and over.
To some, it’s a no brainer. But we have thought very carefully about how to gain the support of our overseas manuhiri. We’ve talked to our friends in the museum and tourism sectors. We’ve checked in with mana whenua and Māori tourism operators. We’ve done our homework to make sure that we do this the right way.
One aspect of this is a high trust approach. People will decide for themselves if they’re a New Zealander, and ID won’t be required. For locals, nothing will change – just bowl up to the museum as usual.
Wherever you’re from, the entry experience will be easy, warm, and welcoming. We expect to keep our status as a must see attraction. Our international visitors are often stunned that the museum is free, and we reckon most of them will be happy to pay.
And of course we will always cherish our status as an incredible free experience for New Zealanders, and a second home for Wellington families – providing shelter for windblown pushchairs since 1998.
So to New Zealanders who support Te Papa through your taxes, thanks so much, and for our overseas visitors, thanks in advance for doing your bit to keep Te Papa awesome.
André Chumko, Te Papa to introduce $35 fee for international visitors, The Post, 16 August 2024
International visitors will pay $35 to enter and explore Te Papa from mid September, The Post can reveal, as the national museum battles rising costs including power, insurance and staff wages.
A ticketing desk and queues of bollards will be set up in the atrium of the first floor of the museum to guide international visitors after being welcomed by visitor hosts at the doors. Those 16 and over will be charged from September 17.
Entry will remain free for all New Zealanders, including those who consider themselves to normally live in New Zealand, regardless of their visa or residency status, and New Zealanders who live abroad who are visiting home.
The system will work on a high trust, self reporting model in which proof of nationality will not be required.
The decision is expected to raise several millions of dollars a year.
In the last financial year 1.2 million people visited Te Papa, about half of those were from overseas. It’s the most visited art gallery in New Zealand, and is regularly billed as a top tourist experience. TripAdvisor listed it as the number one attraction in the country ‒ and the South Pacific ‒ in its travellers’ choice awards this year.
Entry has been free for everyone since Te Papa opened in Wellington in 1998, however the museum does occasionally host short-term blockbuster exhibitions and events that guests must buy tickets for.
The museum receives $44 million a year from the Government, but says it must raise an additional $30m annually to remain sustainable. The extra money presently comes from a mix of philanthropy and donations, partnerships, and commercial activities such as leasing out its venue spaces for conferences and other events; cafes; retail stores and its car park.
Te Papa took a significant commercial revenue hit due to Covid-19.
In an interview, the museum’s co-leaders said the decision was made after extensive consultation over several months with the tourism sector and with visitors, who were asked what they’d be willing to pay. The $35 entry fee was benchmarked against other experiences in New Zealand and abroad.
Auckland Museum, for example, charges international visitors $32, while the Waitangi Treaty Grounds is $60.
Courtney Johnston, Te Papa’s chief executive, said the new revenue would help ensure New Zealanders retain the same world class access to its more than two million collection items.
“I’m sure everyone who’s opened an insurance bill or electricity bill recently has taken a bit of a breath ‒ no different from us. So this is all about us supporting ourselves, supporting New Zealanders, welcoming in our visitors, and keeping it awesome,” Johnston said.
“It’s a balance between keeping that great service and that great access, and then looking for ways to innovate.”
International visitors were often surprised Te Papa was free, she added.
Proving nationality would be a burden for those who visit the museum the most often, Johnston said, which was why it decided to roll the fee out on the basis of self reporting.
The museum’s other co-leader and kaihautū, Dr Arapata Hakiwai, was confident visitor numbers would not plummet.
“Access to the collections, access to the taonga … is a critical dimension. That all comes at a cost. We just want to make sure that with the rising cost pressures, we can ensure that we could continue to reinvest and work towards telling our stories, looking after our treasures and having access to them,” Hakiwai said.
Last year The Post revealed the museum 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.
According to its own research, 98% of international visitors are satisfied with their experience there ‒ 77% of those people rate Te Papa a 9 or 10 out of 10.
International visitors spend an average of two hours at the museum, which employs more than 600 staff from scientists to pastry chefs.
See also: Te Papa to charge $35 entry fee for international visitors
