It has been a record setting year for the Tyrrell Museum, posting its best numbers ever.
Even in a struggling economy, the Tyrrell has posted numbers surpassing its best ever this year, projecting in the area of 455,000 visitors this fiscal year.This is the highest since 1991, when the museum began charging admission.
“We have been averaging a 20 per cent increase or more very month,” said Carrie-Ann Lunde, head of marketing and public relations for the Tyrrell.
Previous to this year, 1993 was the best year for attendance, and every other year has been compared to that, as they hosted 445,000 people coming through the door. So far this year to date the Tyrrell is up 13.5 per cent over last season, and over 20 per cent higher than the 5-year average.
This summer, May to August, has been the busiest in 20 years, and in August the museum hosted its 12th millionth visitor.
Lunde says there are a number of reasons that the Tyrrell is seeing such strong numbers. One of these include the release of Jurassic World. This mirrors the 1993 season, the same year that the original Jurassic Park was on the big screen. In theaters across the country, viewers of the movie were exposed to commercials about Drumheller and the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
“We had a new exhibit and had incredible international exposure around the discovery and release of Hell Boy, I think that this played a significant factor,” said Lunde.
This is on top of the Tyrrell’s own marketing campaign.
“The marketing campaign we have been running for the last couple years, ‘Welcome to Dinosaur Country,’ has been incredibly popular and effective. The imagery is connecting with people and aligning with all those other initiatives that are happening in the tourism industry, and we’re seeing the success of that.”
Another factor Lunde cites is partnerships the museum has built.
“We have been increasing our partnerships with other museums and tourism organizations to raise the profile of the Drumheller area as a whole, and working with tourist operators on new itineraries. All of these things we have done over the past number of years are really gaining momentum, and that is where you are starting to see that influx of travellers, especially from out of province,” said Lunde.
American visitorship alone is up 19 per cent. She doesn’t discount the strength of the American dollar in Canada as a factor, but sees the value in collaboration.
“We have been participating on more collaborative relationships in cross promotions which has been integral,” she said.
Looking down the road the Tyrrell is looking into the second phase of its three year gallery reconstruction project.
“Fossils in Focus was the beginning of that. In a couple weeks, we’ll be starting the demolition plans for Alberta Unearthed. It is all part of updating the introductory part of the museum. The museum will be under construction in this part of the gallery through the winter and will be opening in the spring,” she said.
“It will be a space to introduce people to the concepts of palaeontology. Instead of just being objects on the shelf, we want to explain more about what palaeontology is.”