Visitor numbers as museum performance metric questioned

Stefano Monti argues that using visitor numbers as the primary performance indicator for Italian museums creates a 'superstar market' that benefits only top institutions like Uffizi, Colosseum, and Pompeii while neglecting smaller museums. In 2018, the ten most visited state museums attracted over 33 million visitors, while the remaining 468 museums totaled only 21 million. Monti warns that this metric risks declassing or closing smaller museums. He advocates for smaller museums to adopt leaner management models, focus on local identity, and build community relationships—areas where large museums often fail. He draws a parallel with small businesses that succeed by differentiating rather than competing on price. The article criticizes social media metrics as similarly biased toward resource-rich institutions. Monti calls for a broader evaluation framework that values cultural depth over quantitative measures.