Tate Modern Museum. A visitor attraction Service Quality Evaluation PDF

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A visitor attraction Service Quality Evaluation

Bogdan Ditu - 15422867

LEI 2001 - Managing Visitor Attractions

Contents .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 4 ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Expansion ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Competitors ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Pre-Arrival ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Website......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 App................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Arrival ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Car Park........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Layout and Maintenance of the Entrance................................................................................................................... 8 Welcome, Efficiency and Appearance of Staff ........................................................................................................... 8 Attraction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Layout ......................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Accessibility ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Range and Quality of General Signage .................................................................................................................... 11 Range of Content ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 Quality of Presentation and Interpretation ................................................................................................................ 14 Other Areas ................................................................................................................................................................ 15 Toilets and Cleanliness ............................................................................................................................................. 15 Catering and Retailing .................................................................................................................................................... 16 Range, Presentation and Quality of Food ................................................................................................................ 16 Appearance, Attitude and Efficiency of Staff ............................................................................................................ 17 ....................................................................................................................................... 17 References .......................................................................................................................................................................... 18

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As a freelancer tourism consultant employed by a regional Destination Management Organisation, this report explores the implications of delivering service quality in museum management as a tourism attraction. It examines the levels of managing service quality, form the pre-arrival phase to the attraction assessment itself. It assesses the overall visitor experience and service quality provided by the attraction, in terms of competitiveness, improvements and market segmentation.

The global tourism industry continues to be one of the largest industries across international borders and a major engine for economic development (Cheng, 2016). Based on the latest annual report of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2017), international tourist arrivals in 2016 reached globally 1,235 million, which is an overall growth of 3.9% compared to 2015 , and generated US $1245 billion in receipts, representing 30 percent of worldwide service exports. Of significance importance in the industry are museums. They are the most socially valued cultural institutions in the world, and their attendance has been steadily growing since the end of the 1980s (Pallud and Straub, 2014, p.359; Cooper et al., p.319, 2008). This report is assessing the service quality of the Tate Modern museum as a tourism attraction by applying the SERVQUAL model. Tate Modern is a national modern art gallery located in central London, UK. According to the official website (2017b), the history of Tate starts in 1889 when Henry Tate, an industrialist who had made his fortune as a sugar refiner, offered his collection of British art to the nation but there was no space for it in the National Gallery therefore, the creation of a new gallery was needed. In 1932 the gallery was officially called Tate Gallery becoming totally independent in 1955. Nowadays, Tate features four sites, The gallery at Millbank, London, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and Tate Modern, all which include international modern and contemporary art and the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day with nearly 70,000 artworks. As Green argues, Tate Modern is ‘is the Disney World of museums, an obligatory stop on the caravan of global tourism’ (2016). It is the world's most popular contemporary museum with more than five million people whom visited in 2015, twice as many as New York's Museum of Modern Art and not far behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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The visitor profile at Tate Modern, both in terms of online visits and on-site visits, differentiates through different segmentation criteria. By demographics, 70% of the visitors are men, while by age, most of the visitors are in the 16 - 36 year segment and 70% of them are regular visitors interested especially in the exhibits (Tate, 2014). Around 70% of the visitors reach the website by accessing on PC and 58% are from UK and 42% overseas visitors. In terms of motivation, the most important pull factors for visitors are personal interest research, student and professional research and inspiration, with little in regards to enjoyment. In overall, the visitor attraction market splits between students and professionals in art on one side, and visitors following personal interest on the other side (Tate, 2014). The former segment finds opportunity to improve homework resources and to dig deeper into the existing content, while the latter segment is methodical, but uncertain at some points for what they are looking for and have a less structured agenda than the other research segments.

Expansion The Swiss firm of Herzog & de Meuron designed the new Switch House extension at a cost of £260 million. It is a 10-story twisted concrete pyramid built atop the Tanks, three enormous underground fuel storage spaces that Tate Modern opened in 2012 as venues for performance art and installations, known as the world's first museum galleries to be permanently dedicated to live art. The expansion increased the museum's gallery space by about 60% adding more than 225,000 square feet (Green, 2016). The new space displays 800 works by over 300 artists from over 50 countries, with 75% of the works being purchased since 2000. By this the museum shows that great art is made all over the world.

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Competitors Lagrosen, cited in (Pallud and Straub, 2014, p.361), explains that what makes museums outstand is the visitor experiences as museums product. Notable in assessing performance is that, according to Tlili (2014), there is a distinction between legitimate and necessary evaluating processes, some having the potential to serve as an incentive for museums as organisations, others can be experience as a bit too much overload towards different directions when inappropriately interpreting desired targets.

a SERVQUAL approach based on a 27th of February 2017 visit.

Pre-Arrival Website The museum benefits of a well-done website which fulfils most of the Microsoft Usability Guidelines (MUG). As Pallud and Straub indicate on applying MUG, a website ought to offer engaging experiences to users, tailored to personal preferences, and nevertheless a sense of escapism induced through emotion and not cognitive reality (2014, p.363). Tate`s website is aesthetic and user friendly, it delivers the right content and engages the visitors in a personalised manner.

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Most museum experts accept that currently there are unique opportunities that websites offer for attracting people to the museums. In 2008, half of the American online museum visitors went on-site as well for visiting the exhibits. As a consequence, to improve the quality of these virtual interfaces, museums tend to invest increasingly more money in their websites. For example, the Louvre has spent more than €7 million on its new website within the last decade (Pallud and Straub, 2014, p.359).

App In an effort to make the museum and its collections more accessible to visitors and to also enhance visitor appeal and satisfaction, as Camarero et al. argue, museums presently adopt new models of management within the technological innovation field (2014, p.229). In respect to this, Tate Modern also has developed a Google Play and Apple Store app for smartphones and tablets simply called Tate. The app is user friendly and easily directs people to their desired pages. The app is structured on a location basis, tailored to each of the Tate Galleries and the main functions of the app relate to navigation and information of the premise and to events taking place.

Arrival Car Park Due to its central London location, the museum does not facilitate any car parking services for its visitors. The only parking spaces that the museum offers are front located and designated for disabled use only. To be noted that not even staff members benefit of parking spaces at Tate.

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Layout and Maintenance of the Entrance The entrance of the museum and the appearance of initial grounds and buildings promote an image of care and attention. The museum is split in two main buildings: The Turbine Hall and the Switch House, a 10-floor pyramidal extension. The top floor of the Switch House offers the visitors a great panorama of the city of London, on a radius of 360degrees.

Welcome, Efficiency and Appearance of Staff No welcome scheme is included in the process whatsoever, visitors needing to interact digitally with the museum app, or by using the maps provided at the entrance, as the belief of Camarero et al. is that technological innovation enhances visitor appeal and satisfaction at museums (2014, p.228).

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The focus is on offering everyone a map of the whole building in order to give them the opportunity to make their own way in visiting the museum. There is however a visitor information desk that provides help if genuinely needed.

Staff members are present on a maximum ratio of 1 person in every 2 rooms, which is a wellbalanced proportion of keeping the independent tailored visitor-experience and monitoring the safety procedures and visitors` enquires and issues. Their appearance is blended type, wearing black clothes with the Tate logo on the back, making their presence not obvious to distract from the experience but easily recognisable if needed. When asked, a staff person kindly dealt with an enquiry on explaining what was an exhibition all about in a specific room. The staff member patiently took his time to fully explain the topic of the exhibit and also to give additional details. Tate staff members offer a professional customer experience.

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Attraction Layout Through its infrastructure and designed vision, Tate Modern offers great value to people with visual impairments by opportunities to increase their cultural literacy, to interact with others and avoid isolation, to have pleasurable multisensory experiences based on the exhibition objects and the contextual environment of the museum and also to improve their self-reliance and self-esteem (Mesquita and Carneiro, 2016, p.374).

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Accessibility Mesquita and Carneiro suggest that there is an increasing concern on the social inclusion of people with disabilities and offering equal opportunities for everyone as, according to The World Health Organization`s estimation in 2012, there are worldwide more than 250 million people with visual impairments from which 14% of them are blind and the remaining 86% have low vision, and museum visitors with disabilities experience significant constraints in everyday activities due to a complex range of factors (2016, p.374).

Range and Quality of General Signage As Camarero et al. indicate, in the case of large museums visitor orientation contributes directly to enhancing market and economic performance (2014, p.231). At Tate Modern, the range of signage is high and eliminates any confusion in terms of self-location while visiting the museum. Signs and direction indicators are located on every single floor, informing visitors on the current level and on the whole building plan, and safely keeping a fluid flow of people, avoiding overcrowding.

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Range of Content The museum features a variety range of exhibits, with the focus however on modern art.

In delivering the specific experience, events are an important aspect of the museum. They happen regularly and involve the artists` community along people with interest or professionals. The museum has designated rooms for the events.

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Quality of Presentation and Interpretation The presentation of the exhibits and the museum as an attraction entirely is unique, emphasizing on the topic of modern art and individuality. Museums value depends not necessarily on the cultural significance of the exhibits but also on other factors such as accessibility and interpretation, including the provision of information through such means as guided tours and audio guides (Mesquita and Carneiro, 2016, p.374). In the current environment, the concern for visitor experience means that museums must look beyond the traditional focus on collections and exhibits (Camarero et al. et al. 2014, p.229). Increasing market museum competition, and the struggle with other cultural and leisure activities, forced museums to secure resources and visitors. In order to compete, museums must offer a high-quality experience in order to retain and improve their power of appeal. They must also seek to adapt a wider-ranging interests services and activities to the needs and expectations of their current visitors for achieving a high satisfying, educational, and valuable experience.

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Other Areas In terms of major constraints preventing people with physical disabilities from participating in museum activities and mainly visiting are related to the physical environment and, specifically, to the existence of physical barriers that increase mobility difficulties (Mesquita and Carneiro, 2016, p.376). Tate Modern has 100% wheelchair access, from car park to toilets, corridors, elevators and function rooms such as conference, galleries, retail and catering. As in the case of most of the museums, there isn`t any guide dog access in the venue, reducing a potential visitor segment. There are also emergency exit doors located on key areas to efficiently evacuate visitors when needed. Emergency telephones exist also, but in small number.

Toilets and Cleanliness The toilets are located on every level, with wheelchair access and all the areas of the facility prove an excellent attention delivered to maintaining the venue clean at all times.

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Catering and Retailing With many opportunities to eat, drink and shop, Tate Modern accommodates a variety of service providers at the best panorama spots.

Range, Presentation and Quality of Food The cafes and restaurants are well presented with harmonised layout, queue efficient and easy-to-read menu. The drinks and food range is high, including vegetarian, allergenic and gluten-free options However, with considering the busy times it is notable that more attention to maintaining clean tables is needed. The accommodating space is well balanced, considering the high number of locations within the museum. Even at peak time costumers were able to take a seat and serve their food and drinks.

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Appearance, Attitude and Efficiency of Staff The Staff are all smartly dressed in uniforms according to the department they work in. Catering Staff members usually have apron as part of the equipment, as they work with food, whereas retail sellers are dressed casually enough to blend in the scene, but smartly enough to be recognised. The Staff members were always handy when asked about directions or information in regards to food and drinks. Not every single person expressed the best mood to be in, but it is totally acceptable as no issues have been unidentified.

In conclusion, Tate Modern is a well-established museum that delivers a high quality of customer service and also tailors a personalised experience for each of the visitors. At Tate Modern, this process of guiding and information feed is delivered in a different way than in the classic museums where designated groups of people are led. The process rather emphasizes on an independent, tailored experience that engages in a personal manner with each of the visitor segments, focusing on the notion of escapism. In achieving this, the museum uses technology such as video screens, audio systems and themed set-ups all across the venue. The museum has greatly managed catering and retailing services, and offers excellent opportunities for disabled people It is recommended that the catering services should expand their opening hours in order to fulfil visitors needs at all times. As Pallud and Straub suggest, it is also recommended that the museum should keep improving its main features to stay competitive against the increasing trend of choosing virtual museums rather than actual ones (2014, p.359). Tlili (2014) goes furthermore emphasizing on the role of professional expertise in assessing the current level and the desired future goal. What is of essential focus is the process in between, because one might say success is not a destination, it is a journey.

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References Camarero et al., C. et al. (2014) Achieving effective visitor orientation in European museums. Inno...