Cultural participation survey in Catalonia 2020. Museums and other exhibition centers and the impact of COVID-19

Report with the results relating to the cultural practices of Catalans in museums and other exhibition centres and on the impact of COVID-19. The report used data from the Catalonia Cultural Participation Survey 2020 (EPCC–2020), prepared by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

The pandemic has had a strong impact on attendance at cultural activities held outside the home.

35.0% of Catalans over the age of 13 declare having visited exhibitions, museums, monuments or art galleries during 2020, 18.4 points less than in 2019 (53.4%). This sharp decrease is due to the impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, which has led to the closure of facilities, various territorial confinements and strong mobility restrictions.

It is observed that, in addition to a drop in the proportion of people who declare visiting museums (19 percentage points less than in 2019), there is also a sharp decrease in the number of visits made.

Probably due to the fear of leaving home caused by the pandemic, those over 55 are the group that has been most affected by the pandemic with a relative loss of almost 4 out of 10 visitors compared to 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a different impact depending on the level of education of the population. The people who have decreased their propensity to visit museums and other heritage facilities the most in 2020 compared to 2019 have been those belonging to the two categories that presented the lowest levels of visits: among people with no education and people with a first degree, visits to exhibition centers have fallen by more than half. On the other hand, among people with levels of education who are more likely to visit "with third degree studies", the relative drop does not reach a third.

According to the employment situation, the group that has been most affected by the pandemic has been the retired and disabled, who have had a relative loss of 4 out of 10 visitors compared to 2019, while the rest of the categories have lost less than a third.

The territories that have suffered the greatest decrease in visits to museums and other exhibition centers are Terres de l’Ebre (-31.7 percentage points compared to 2019), Ponent (-27.8) and Alt Pirineu i Aran (-27.2). The restrictions on mobility and the periods of municipal and regional confinement caused by the pandemic must have had a greater impact on the population of the territories furthest from Barcelona, ??due to the limitations on mobility that have made it difficult to carry out cultural activities in the capital.

Covid-19 has significantly affected the ability of the population of Catalonia to travel. Thus, 70.7% of those who visited a museum responded that it was located in Catalonia (14.5 points more than in 2019): 44.6% in the city or region of residence (8.7 points more than in 2019) and 26.1% in the rest of Catalonia (5.8 points more than in 2019). However, the link between visiting museums and tourism remains very significant, since if we consider that visiting a museum in the rest of Catalonia is part of domestic tourism, then 55.4% of the Catalan population has visited a museum while traveling or on a weekend trip in a year with such an unfavorable context for travel.

Taking into account only people who declare that the last museum visited was located in Catalonia, the spending of the population of Catalonia on tickets to Catalan museums during 2020 is between 10.4 and 12.6 million euros, between 50% and 57% less than in 2019.

Among those who prepare their visit before going to museums, the internet is the main means of communication for information: 44.1% declare using the museum website (-34.3 percentage points compared to 2019), 15.0% use other websites (-20.2 points compared to 2019), 17.2% use social networks or other mobile applications (-12.5 points compared to 2019).

7.2% declare that they have seen an activity during confinement recorded or specially programmed for the occasion by museums, art galleries or exhibition halls

58.1% say they have missed attending popular events (Sant Jordi, Festes majors, etc.) during the months of confinement, 22.2% have missed visiting monuments, exhibitions and art galleries.

El 71,6% declara que entre els principals factors que l’atreuen de tornar a assistir a esdeveniments culturals presencials hi ha el fet de tornar a fer activitats amb amics i/o familiars.

Outdoor cultural events are those that generate the greatest sense of safety, followed by visits to monuments and architectural and archaeological heritage.