Visitation Down at Jamestown, Yorktown

By Desiree Parker Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Jamestown Yorktown Foundation announced its 2009 paid admission numbers this week, and the news isn’t good.

The recession has dealt a double blow to the foundation, which operates the Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, by forcing the state to cut funding while reducing the number of visitors willing to travel to the historic destinations.

Paid visitation to both locations totaled 614,606 in 2009, down 11.2 percent over the previous year. Admission sales at the two locations totaled $5.2 million, down 9.8 percent. Paid attendance at the Jamestown Settlement was down 12.9 percent and at the Victory Center it was down 6.3 percent.
Group visitation, including school field trips, comprised 36 percent of the total. Participation in structured education programming for groups at the two locations, which is primarily student groups, was down 10 percent this year.

While Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center continued to draw visitors from across the nation, Virginia remained the primary source, with 18.5 percent of individual visitors and 57 percent of group visitors from the Commonwealth.

The reduction in visitation comes at a time when the state is giving less money to the foundation. In fiscal year 2008-2009, state funds of $7.6 million made up 48 percent of the operating budget, while in the current fiscal year, the state’s $6.9 million made up 44 percent.

“Every area of the Foundation has been affected by budget reductions,” says spokeswoman Deborah Padgett. “Examples of the impact on programming are cutbacks in JYF's statewide outreach education programming (these numbers are not included in on-site visitation numbers), closure of Jamestown Settlement's riverfront discovery interpretive area and one of the three ships during limited periods of non-peak visitation, and reductions in special events programming.”

In 2008, the foundation announced plans to build a new Victory Center, which would include an 80,000-square-foot building with improved access to outdoor interpretive programs. The cost was estimated at around $41 million, and the foundation is in the early stages of organizing funding for the effort.

“The national economic recession had a significant impact,” said Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Senior Director of Marketing and Retail Operations Susan Bak. “We’re encouraged, however, that consumers are continuing to seek information about Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, with visits to our historyisfun.org Web site up over 2008. We will continue to place emphasis on Internet search marketing and our commitment to destination marketing.”