Nosedive in Greek museum attendance this year
Greece’s museums recorded a 97% reduction in the number of visitors in June, having opened only for the second half of the month.
A decrease of 95.3% was observed in the number of visitors who were exempt from paying admission (students, pensioners etc) and a drop of 98.2% in those who paid an entrance fee, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday.
The operation of museums was suspended on March 14 due to the Covid pandemic, and they reopened on June 16.
In the same month the number of visitors to archaeological sites recorded a slump of 96.4%, with a 94.3% decline in the number of visitors who didn’t pay admission and a 97.6% fall in paying visitors.
Over the six-month period from January to June, compared to the corresponding period of 2019, museum visitor figures recorded an 80.1% decrease, with a 78.2% drop in the number of nonpaying visitors and an 86.7% reduction in their paying counterparts, taking into consideration that museums were closed for just over three months.
In the same period archaeological sites saw an 85.3% contraction in the number of visitors, with an 83.2% fall in the number of free admission visitors and a 90.3% decrease in those who paid an entrance fee.
