About the Louvre: Audience Development

The evidence suggests that the current "visitor focus" is unlikely to be a passing trend. Museums have been observing their audiences for more than ten years, enabling them to build up a body of valuable information. An audience-oriented culture has emerged, which has gradually gained acceptance and found a place within museum administrations. Dedicated "visitor services" departments have been created, museum recruitment has reflected the increasing professionalisation of this area of activity, and new visitor facilities are prominent and well-designed. Increasingly, museums worldwide are acknowledging the importance of their relationship with their visitors, on a par with their traditional responsibility to maintain, display, and develop their collections.

For museums to survive and advance as 21st-century institutions, they need to unite all of their expert academic staff, administrators, and audience-oriented professionals around a clearly-defined mission, enabling them to fulfill their vital role as a mediator between the works of art in their collections, and the people who come to enjoy and learn from them.

A clear policy embracing target audiences, and cultural and educational aims will equip the Louvre to address future challenges, and to clarify decisions affecting its long-term direction.

Since the launch of the Grand Louvre project, admissions to the museum have doubled, rising to an annual average of 5.7 million visitors. Two-thirds of these visitors come from countries other than France, with the number of first-time visitors steady at about 52 percent over the last ten years. Clearly, there are substantial reserves of potential visitors and the world's largest museum remains extremely attractive. Why, then, does the Louvre need a specific "audience policy"?

A closer look reveals that the vast majority of visitors to the Louvre are travelers taking in the museum as a "must-see" stop on the Paris tourist trail during their first visit to the city. However, visitors returning for subsequent stays feel very little compulsion to come to the Louvre a second time. Furthermore, the high proportion of tourists, often in large, organized groups, can deter local museum-goers, who are put off by the crowds and long waiting times. It goes without saying that the Louvre has a duty to remain accessible to all, under the best possible conditions. The preponderance of certain categories of visitors must not be allowed to discourage others from coming to the museum.

The Louvre has taken a number of measures to remedy this situation.

The Louvre's new Audiences Directorate acts as an umbrella organization for the full range of activities devoted to serving the needs of all of the museum's visitors:

• The research, assessment, and forecasting department analyzes visitor statistics and carries out studies of the sociological characteristics and cultural habits of target audiences. It produces appraisals of previous campaigns, and studies future trends and visitor initiatives instigated by other leading museums.
• The audience development department promotes museum products to specific visitor categories and, drawing on its networks and correspondents, looks for new audiences and ways of developing their loyalty. It carries out specific promotional and marketing operations targeting teachers, social workers, companies, and the tourism industry.
• The education and culture department oversees the program of guided tours and educational workshops, and creates new visitor activities designed to update and enhance the quality of the museum's interaction with specific audiences and contribute to the targeting of new audiences.
• The reception, information, and documentation department is responsible for the practical aspects of the museum's direct contact with the public, providing information and facilties to help visitors access and use the museum easily and comfortably.
• The sales and bookings department handles all ticketing and inspection processes, as well as internal and external sales.

The Audiences Directorate aims to promote awareness of the museum's diverse audiences and their needs. Different categories of visitors interact with the museum and its collections in different ways and with differing degrees of depth. Therefore, it is vitally important to provide appropriate responses in each case. Equally important is the need to reach out to new audiences and encourage people who would never normally consider visiting a museum to come and enjoy the collections.

Young people are a top priority: every museum has a duty to encourage new generations of enthusiastic, informed visitors.

Access for visitors with special needs or reduced mobility is an increasingly important issue, particularly in light of an aging population.

Public institutions have a duty to help combat the effects of social exclusion. The Louvre recognizes that museums have a unique role to play in encouraging the most vulnerable and underprivileged members of society to discover new experiences and new ways of learning, which often contribute to renewed self-esteem.

I.M. Pei's monumental Pyramid has become the universally-recognized symbol of the world's largest— and, arguably, most beautiful— museum. In recent years, however, the Louvre's stupendous foyer has been the focus of a far-reaching debate on issues related to the reception of the museum's visitors, their well-being, and the quality of their engagement with the artworks in the galleries beyond. There is widespread agreement on the need to play down the monumental, institutional character of the Louvre as an entity in itself, and focus instead on its role as an intermediary between individual visitors and the particular objects, paintings, and sculptures that they have come to discover. Measures are underway to enable the museum to operate on a more "human" scale.

The role and functioning of the Pyramid and the Hall Napoléon beneath are currently being reassessed as part of a plan for the creation of decentralized reception areas, information desks, and rest areas in other parts of the museum and its surroundings.

Museums have a twofold responsibility: to preserve, display, and develop their collections, and to promote access to these treasures for the widest possible spectrum of visitors. In this context, their educational role is essential. But educational initiatives, too, must keep abreast of current trends, including the growing demand for lifelong learning opportunities. We need to establish a dialogue between the museum as "temple"— exhibiting and enlarging its collections— and the museum as "forum," a forward-looking center of intellectual life and public debate.

Museums are particularly well-placed to play an important role as centers for new forms of learning. The Louvre's educational program draws on inputs from visitors to define and update its content, materials, and methods for the promotion of lifelong learning.

Addressing the twin demands of its role as a place of learning and a showcase for art, the Louvre is actively developing the number and scope of its temporary exhibitions, which are supported by a solid program of cultural and educational activities. Initiatives in this area are also designed to extend the museum's reach to new and wider audiences.