Paid Visitation Down at Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Victory Center

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Paid visitation at Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center were down in 2010.

In 2010, 595,023 visitors paid to visit the living history museums; 428,868 of those visitors went to the Jamestown Settlement, while 166,155 visitors went to the Yorktown Victory Center. Admission sales at the two museums amounted to $4,958,796, a drop of 3.8 percent from 2009.

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, which runs both museums, attributed the decline to the ongoing effects of the recession. “The national economic recession continues to have an impact, though less severely than in 2009,” said Susan Bak, senior director of marketing and retail operations for the foundation. “While monthly visitation patterns remained erratic, since July, we’ve exceeded 2009 levels in several months.”

Individual ticket sales accounted for 63 percent of the paid visitation. The remaining 37 percent of sales were to groups, such as school field trips. In 2010, the museums also offered 53,184 complimentary admissions to residents of Williamsburg, James City and York counties, children under 6, group escorts and promotional admissions.

She said the foundation is working to broaden its reach to prospective visitors through changes to its web site, social media, Internet search marketing and destination marketing. Through its efforts, the foundation saw online ticket sales double, and received 1.5 million visits to its site.

“We will continue our work with area partners to promote cooperative tickets and vacation packages including America’s Historic Triangle, which features admission to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and art museums, Yorktown Battlefield and the Yorktown Victory Center,” she said.

The Foundation’s operating budget in fiscal year 2009-2010 was $16.2 million; 40 percent of its budget came from the General Assembly, while admissions revenue accounted for the remaining 60 percent.