Attraction Management: Enhancing Visitor Experience at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery

This report evaluates the visitor experience at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery using the West Midlands Growth Company's visitor form. Quality gaps are identified, particularly in inclusive practices. A customer experience strategy is proposed to address the gaps and enhance inclusiveness. The strategy includes gathering visitor feedback, improving facilities for disabled visitors, offering multilingual information, and providing special food options for visitors with health concerns.

Attraction
Management

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY....................................................................................................................................4
a) Inspection of visitor attraction using West Midlands Growth Company to judge visitor
Form-...........................................................................................................................................4
b) Identification of quality gap in the experience of the visitor-.................................................7
c) Proposing strategy to address the quality gap and augmenting experience of visitor
attraction-.....................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Attraction management is a set of tasks which are performed by attraction manager in
order to manage all areas of attraction of visitors in order to hike their experience. The report will
be closely reviewing various aspects of a visit at Birmingham Museum and art gallery. At the
same time the quality gap would be assessed and to enhance visitors experience a strategy will be
suggested (Trunfio and Campana, 2020)
MAIN BODY
a) Inspection of visitor attraction using West Midlands Growth Company to judge visitor Form-
Birmingham Museum and art gallery is one of the most visited place and being a great
attraction for visitors. This is known for its numerous pre-Raphaelite art collection, at the same
time having mesmerizing story of Staffordshire Hoard. It is located at Birmingham city, UK. It
came into existence in the year 1885. It is being visited by lacs of people every year. In the year
2019 around 650000 people made their visit.
WMGC is located in UK. It is engaged in helping to grab jobs, expansion of the existing
business and attracting new business and making investments. The business is having vision of
being a leader when it comes to promote investments in order to boost up the national economy.
West Midlands Growth Company is short-listing some visitor’s attractions for giving
them award, with this regard Birmingham Museum and art gallery is being visited in order to
inspect weather it is providing great experience to the visitors or having some gaps. For
fulfilment of the purpose visitor form is being used.
Area assessed Judges Comment
Area-1 Booking and
pre-arrival
There is good facility to make a pre booking at the museum, the tickets
can be booked from Wednesday to Friday, if people become 12 months’
member then may get some privileges. All the information is available
on the official website, may make contact using phone, direct
messaging. No waiting is allowed at the museum.
For example- The organization may go for some betterment in its
booking process. Some relaxation should be given to the people of
different constellation it would be hiking the value of inclusiveness in
the organization.

Out of 10 it is given 9.
Area-2 Online
Presence and Reviews
For any enquire may dial general enquiries number, from Monday to
Friday, 9 to 4:30 pm. The commercial teach is responsible for that, it is
just using Press and Media for making communication, there are some
teams such as digital team, donation team, picture library etc. can use
Email too. There are some stakeholders such as Aston Hall, Think-tank
etc. But there are time constraints to make call or contacting staff for
any enquiry (Bideci and Albayrak, 2018) so for the section 8 out of 10
are given.
Area-3 Welcome and
friendliness of Staff
The museum is providing great welcome to its visitors, they are given
warmth welcome by the team or staff member. For feeling special the
visitors are given sort of information and key attractions, the staff has
articulated some rules such as preciousness of the objectives, what type
of carry bag can be taken for our ease, allowed to use camera etc.
They made my work easier since I was given all prominent information
about the museum and how I was supposed to make my visit. With this
regard 9 out of 10 are given.
Area-4 External Areas All external areas can be said perfect, the presentation of the pieces of
art were fabulous, and were arranged in good manner. Some pieces of
arts such as Fine art, where around 35000 items were placed, sculpture,
digital art, photography etc. (Easson and Leask, 2020)
There was a good arrival, Lunch area for visitors, there was a clockroom
which was not currently available, good number of toilets, on the Floor
2 there was museum shop too.
Floral and other forms of decorations were snatching eyes, the lighting
and play areas were well managed. The parking facility needs to be
improved. The external areas are supposed to instil some better practise
and are given 7 out of 10.
Area-5 The Attraction The presentation was good at museum, there are thousands of objects
and the staff is striving their best to help visitors. Visitors are having

enough support from their side, the objectives are displayed in different
ways such as in show case, in open etc.
The overall ambience has been wonderful; the most memorable thing
was the ancient objectives are art pieces they have presented. The values
of the museum are inspiration for everyone, supporting local makers
from the heart, trust in us etc. which are making them ready to help
visitors. The attraction is given 9 out of 10.
Area-6 Cleanliness The museum is well maintained, all shelves and areas including
compound area and lobby, a very clean ambience can be felt. Entrance,
grounds, gardens, public areas, reception, shop etc. are inviting visitors
with their cleanliness. The main attraction was internal beauty of the
museum where everything is placed abiding with hygiene.
For example- The measures of cleanliness can be improved, with this
regard, the organization is suggested to abide with some new regimes it
will be surging its value. When it comes to cleanliness then 10 out of 10
are allotted.
Area-7 Accessible
and Inclusive Tourism
The customers who are having need are provided accessibility
requirements, if they are having any issue then a separate team of the
museum is there to assist them. There are some facilities are being
provided to ensure inclusive tourism, for instance- There is Baby
Changing is available, ladies toilets, disabled toilets, Lockers etc. for
visitors. There is special parking for Blue Badge Holders.
Accessibility is embedded there for instance with respect to different
works may make contact to the officials, for dietary needs it offers great
many too, which can be taken into consideration. The staff is well-
trained to handle clients, on the other hands there are a range of
customers make visit form different corners of the world. They enjoy
with greater amour. There is rank is lower and will give 7 out of 10.
Area-8 Ethical,
Responsible &
It is getting operated with ethics, promoting culture of more than 100
years. They are paying attention to energy, water, wildlife enhancement,

Sustainable waste, travel initiatives, promoting local products, local culture, at the
same time are also involved in charity acts too. The staff is very
dedicated, I asked for some help and found them fully dedicated.
Moreover, the staff is multilingual and multitasker which is very helpful
(Recupero, et al. 2019) with this regard, it will get 9 out of 10.
So form the above evaluation it can be summarized that the overall review is in the favour
of the historical site. They are using social media to the apex extend. The best part is that the
institution is having its own web page, where all relevant information is provided to the potential
visitors. They may make calls and can get information from different online tools offered by the
museum. So overall reviews had been in favour of the institution.
b) Identification of quality gap in the experience of the visitor-
The museum is providing best services to its customers yet there is an area found with
gape. In such hospitality business there is strong need to pay attention that how to satisfy visitors.
One of the biggest gap found is lack of inclusive practise, that the museum is practising
inclusive practise yet there is need to work on facilities provided to people with some different
circumstances. Here, 7 out of 10 can be given. Every year a lack of people makes their entry. In
the year 2014-2015 around 1,272,070 people visited it and around 10% people consider their-self
disabled. There is strong need to pay attention to these people and aiding them to the fullest
extent so can enhance their experience (Ruiz-Alba, et al. 2019) For quality gape a scale can be
used for giving some quality scores. The scale of 0-10 would be used in order to give ranks or
scores to different areas.
There is need to bring community engagement in the museum, the museum trust found
the area with rigours need and in the year 2015-2016 they launched a programme where around
30 people form 6 faith participated yet there is need to work on it. The museum is promoting
only local culture which is not much healthy at the same time it can also depict sort of other
cultures in order to make the museum more inclusive in nature, at last the substantial share is
coming from foreign visitors. The welcoming process is quite good yet some areas are there
which can be improved, for instance it can be surprising and attention garbing for the new
visitors. Every year around 51% visitors are new they are first time visitors so there is need to
work on it. It would help to bring inclusive practise in the museum.

The locker facility of the museum in now not active, there are a lot of visitors who are
making their first time visit, and they come across the world so providing this facility would be
enhancing their experience at museum. At the same time there is charge of £1 for the lockers
which is affordable but there is need to reinstall the facility. This facility will give sense of
inclusiveness to foreign visitors.
It has been seen that a wide number of students are coming to the visit of museum so
there is strong requirement to pay attention to their expectation. As the museum started its
educational programme where more than 113635 students made participation form around 1190
schools. So it can be concluded that students are accounting a huge part of visitors. Here it is
found that storytelling, giving them attention curbing interpretation would pave way for ensuring
inclusive practise. The student group may feel inclusive with better treatment.
For better experience to visitors there is facility of live online talks, which is conducted
on Zoom and other platforms, it lasted for around 15 minutes to 1 hour by the experts of the
organization. Yet there can be seen some gaps, a vast majority of people are form non English
background so the information about objects is being provided in English, there is need to work
on it and making it more receptive to visitors. The multilingual staff is there yet there is need to
work here since majority of things are being carried out at English such as booking portal,
booking information, written object information etc. this can make the programme inclusive in
nature (Kuo, et al. 2018) So when it comes to inclusiveness then 8 out of 10 can be given.
Over time the hospitality sector is expanding its grasp to get people with disability
included, the museum is ensuring inclusive participation of such disabled visitors. They are
providing them attractive facilities so can make their visit memorable and joyful. Despite having
all the facilities the biggest gap found that such disable people are not having same state of mind
they are suffering from sort of emotional issues so there may be some new things to get them
amused, for instance role-play, visualization can be hiked (Ness, 2020)
The museum staff is very supportive when it comes to their food menu, they are
providing a range of items to their visitors. For instance- Brunch consists brie, mushroom,
smoked salmon, toasted tea cake etc., Traditional mains, street east, salads, sides, desserts,
children's menu, afternoon tea, Sunday lunch, hot drinks and some special offers too. But there is
no special thing for people suffering from Diabetes. Now people are getting health conscious so
there are rigours needs to offer them something special in order to satisfy the visitors and giving

them Wow moments. With offering different foods the practise can be made inclusive. About
hospitality the organization is having its great value and it must be given 9 out of 10 score
(Gauld, 2019)
As the data suggests that there are around 850000 people are living in UK with dementia.
It will be increasing to around 1 million by the year 2025 (Janes and Sandell, 2019) The tourism
industry is having need to pay their consideration to such realm. The museum should not be seen
as only educational stream but it may help to such people. So the inclusion of such people is very
much-needed (Morse, et al. 2022)
c) Proposing strategy to address the quality gap and augmenting experience of visitor attraction-
The museum is providing great facilities yet there is need to abide with some strategy in
order to eradicate the identified quality gap and making it foster with higher intensity. For
fulfilment of the purpose “Customer Experience Strategy” can be followed, it would be
helping to eradicate the emerging concerns and can help visitors to get thrived. There is the issue
is found about inclusive practise, the museum is striving a lot yet there is a bit quality gap, which
is needed to be sorted out.
With this regard these actions can be taken to bring more inclusiveness in the Birmingham
Museum & Art Gallery-
1) How visitors feel- To fill up the experience gap, should give more attention that how the
visitors are feeling while coming and experiencing the museum. Their feedbacks are very
precious, they must be given facility to give both close-ended and open-ended answer giving
facilities so can extend their side. Their remarks, their views on different things such as food,
facilities for disable people, or people with ailments, dress changing facility, locker facility, staff
etc. (Noh and Hong, 2021)
2) What visitors do- the experience of visitors can be gathered form many ways, but it is
prominent to know what they actually do. Firstly, knowing it is essential that what about their
participation is there any gap, it may be due to linguistic differences, maybe they do not like the
offered facilities, if they are disabled then there is huge chance that they may feel unsafe or
excluded, it can bring their morale down, which is not good for experience management, with
this respect, multiple areas are to be examined. For instance- Dwell time, and how many of them

are coming frequently, if they are not coming then what are the key drivers behind etc. (Fforde
and Oscar, 2020)
3) Where visitors go- In the museum it can be perceived that where the visitors are going and
how are they being treated, it will help to know the salient attraction of the museum, if any area
is being hit by them then there is need to work with that. If they do not like something for
instance- The visitors are not making frequent visit to the food section, then may decipher the
reasons behind do they have problem with menu or are feeling excluded. If there are disable
people then what factors are taking them away from any offering of the museum, for example- if
they are avoiding using toilets or change room then they might have issues of using it. It will
help to sort out inclusiveness related perils (Ballarin, Balletti and Vernier, 2018)
4) Visitor Persona- For designing the higher experience of visitors their persona can be asked,
here some information such as their name, motivations that why they are visiting, goals,
prevalence, effective channels, how much they want to pay, messaging, any preference
pertaining to food, do they have kids, their physical issues or sort of health problems etc.
(Dibosa, 2021)
But while asking the information, they must be assured for proper confidentiality of the matter so
can share their ideas and as per the ideas of visitors’ proper plan can be fabricated in order to
meet their all needs and eradicating all possible perils of the way of bringing inclusiveness.
5) Strategies and Tactics- At once, when all required information are gathered then it is time to
fabricate a fully-fledged plan or strategy to wipe out the factors which may place bigger
challenges on the way of bringing inclusiveness at all realm of the museum (Smaghi, 2018)
There should not be any type of exclusiveness, on the basis of gender, age, ailment, nationality,
personal safety, personal values, moralities, emotions, nationality, language etc. As above seen,
there is gap with this respect, and for making it better strategies can be formed.
Here an Action Canvas can be drafted to hike experience of people and inculcating sense of
inclusiveness to them.
For example-
Action canvas:

Hypothesis For example- Can we increase the number of such visitors who are having
linguistic issues and are not getting better treatment from the side of
museum.
Baseline Prior
Change
For instance- 20% of who are visiting official website are not coming due
to improper facilities provided to disable people or women or people with
kids, or people with different language etc. (Summers, 2022)
Experiment Here an experiment can be carried out. The people who feel to be
excluded and not being treated as others then some plans can be applied
to them so can enjoy there. As it was seen in the secret visit to reveal the
areas with lacunas so with this regard, it was found that the experience of
people was not as good as it should be so here, the strategy of coming
with new plans in attempt to make them experience better. These are the
evidence such as can offer diverse food, better linguistic approach etc.
Actual Following
Test
Then the strategy will be applied to a large section in order to eradicate
their issues and making their experience more memorable, mesmerizing.
For example- If organization offers them sense of attachment then it will
change the perspective of visitors and they will be promoting others to
make visit of such place.
Time period For carrying out the strategy, there is need to decide a proper time frame,
it will be guiding to know gap or deviations and how to meet them with
further improvement in the future.
For example- Birmingham museum is already using such time based
planning system so it can be concluded that the organization is having
good plan and utilizing these ideas.
If the organization wins this award it would be offering them wide window to work with
higher calibre. It would not only give them specific prestige in the society but at the same time
they will be taking advantage in the form of more visitors, higher value, better recognition, sense
of superiority etc. The museum would be able to demonstrate its success in the process of
marketing so can hike its diaspora of serving people too. Thereafter, it would be fair enough to

conclude that winning award such as West Midland Tourism will be in benefit of the
organization.
CONCLUSION
So from the report above it can be concluded that Birmingham Museum and art gallery is
performing with their best efforts yet there is issue of inclusive practise. With this regard the
report evaluated various areas of their performance, then found the gap and suggested a plan to
wipe out potential barriers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals-
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museum visit experiences. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality
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Dibosa, D., 2021. Gavin Jantjes's Korabra Series (1986): Reworking Museum Interpretation. Art
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product for attracting, engaging and retaining new museum audiences?. Current Issues
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Weird Thing’: Repatriation Work and the Search for Jandamarra. In The Routledge
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Recupero, A., et al. 2019. Bridging museum mission to visitors’ experience: activity, meanings,
interactions, technology. Frontiers in psychology. 10. p.2092.
Ruiz-Alba, J. L., et al. 2019. Museum visitors’ heterogeneity and experience
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Smaghi, L. B., 2018. Museum reforms and the Italian experience three years later a view from
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Online:
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< https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag>

< https://visitbirmingham.com/things-to-see-and-do/birmingham-museum-and-art-gallery-
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