Museum Victoria has had its most successful year ever, with more than 2.3 million visits from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011, and record-breaking numbers visiting Melbourne Museum. 

Ticketed attendance across Museum Victoria venues in the year to June 30, 2011 was 2,329,558 – an increase of nine per cent (around 200,000 people) on last year’s record-breaking total.

This was the second year in a row that attendance figures topped the two million mark, making Museum Victoria the most-visited Museum organisation in Australia.

There was strong attendance at all Museum Victoria venues, with best-ever visitation at Melbourne Museum – 1,428,238 – a 25 per cent increase on last year’s attendance, making it the country’s most popular museum. Immigration Museum topped last year’s attendance with 128,350 visitors and both Scienceworks and IMAX Melbourne Museum maintained strong visitation with 447,708 and 325,262 attendances respectively.

“Museum Victoria continues to be a great place for Victorians to visit and to bring their interstate and international guests. Visitors are delighted by our own innovative exhibitions and programs and enjoy the great international exhibitions that we present, such as Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs and Titanic: the Artefact Exhibition,” said Gillian Hoysted, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Museum Victoria.

“This year marked the completion of the Science and Life Gallery redevelopment at Melbourne Museum, with international award-winning exhibitions Wild: Amazing Animals in a Changing World, 600 Million Years and Dynamic Earth, as well as the new long-term Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours exhibition at Immigration Museum. These fantastic attendance figures reflect the popularity of our international exhibitions, local favourites such as Top Designs, and of the exhibitions developed in-house by Museum Victoria.”

Ms Hoysted said growing visitor numbers underscored the value of keeping permanent exhibitions refreshed, as indicated by the huge popularity of the new Science and Life Gallery at Melbourne Museum, a four-stage redevelopment that was completed in November 2010.

“Right now we’re undertaking a major redevelopment of the main exhibition space at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum,” she said.

“In addition, we are in the process of planning a much-needed redevelopment at Scienceworks – a venue that has been love to bits by children of all ages for the past 19 years.” 

MUSEUM VICTORIA ATTENDANCE HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2010/2011:

• Most visitors to Melbourne Museum on a single day: 10,192 (23 April 2011)
• Total number of ticketed visitors to Titanic: the Artefact Exhibition: 480, 879
• Total number of patrons viewing Titanic 3D: Ghosts of the Abyss at IMAX Melbourne Museum: 56,273
• Total number of visits to education programs at Museum Victoria: 310,170