Financial pressure is on the rise for museums across the globe, with the boards, funders and trustees watching revenue lines closely.
In 2024-25, total visitors were 13% below the annual pre-pandemic average, at 42 million versus 48 million, according to the National Audit Office. It also found revenue grant-in-aid was 11% lower in real terms than the pre-pandemic average.
Museum leadership already knows that admissions alone can't carry the institution. That's why museums are looking for new revenue streams, with the National Snapshot of United States Museums finding that 55% are now pursuing corporate sponsorships, 46% building or revamping membership programmes, and 43% exploring facility rentals.
All of these pursuits can be effective. But they're slow and often resource intensive. Meanwhile, many institutions are overlooking a fast, low-risk and innovative way to capture revenue: ticketing.
By making more of ticketing, museums can earn more from the same ticket without having to charge visitors 'more' in the traditional sense.
Raising prices can create public scrutiny, impacting visitor numbers and loyalty. But during the ticket-buying journey there are three critical moments where revenue tends to be left on the table. By taking advantage of all three of these opportunities, revenue can be enhanced without increasing the price of the ticket.
Opportunity #1: Before the ticket is bought
Offering upsells at the very beginning of the ticketing journey is a great way to maximise revenue from the ticket. By offering the visitor a better version of what they're about to buy, such as a package that bundles the exhibition ticket with something the visitor was likely to want anyway, a guided tour, a catalogue, or an exhibition-plus-collection combination, the ticket becomes worth more.
This not only enhances revenue for the museum, but it also gives the visitor options they didn't know existed and makes for a better experience on the day.
Opportunity #2: As the ticket is being purchased
As the visitor moves through the checkout, a number of cross-selling opportunities open up. This is where something is offered that is highly relevant to the visitor, right when it's most likely to resonate for them in response to what's in their basket already.
For museums, that might be offering a family workshop the moment a child's ticket is selected. Or a suggestion that the visitor buy a membership at the start of a season, when a visitor's enthusiasm, and their willingness to commit, is highest. Straight after the sale, the ticketing system might suggest another event or exhibition while the visitor is still in the right 'booking' mindset.
During the ticketing purchase is also the best time to offer memberships, donations and packages. Because when these are pitched as cross-sells, rather than buried in separate website pages, they have a higher conversion rate.
Opportunity #3: After the ticket is bought
After the ticket is bought, there is the opportunity to pull a little-used revenue lever: ticket protection.
Refunding visitors whose plans change is normally a drain on museum resources and creates dissatisfaction for customers if handled poorly. But when ticket protection is included, it becomes a new revenue stream.
Across our SECUTIX customers, ticket protection has a 5% average attachment rate, with a 9%-32% claim ratio range. It's a revenue lever that scales with the ticket value, because the higher the stakes for the visitor, the more likely they are to choose protection.
Making more from your ticketing
The beauty of all these strategies is that none of them ask you to charge more for the ticket. It's simply offering your visitors the chance to get more from their visit, something which benefits both of you.
By looking at the full transaction, you will be able to recognise that the moments before, around and after that purchase are where the additional revenue has been sitting all along.
Book a demo to learn how SECUTIX can help your institution earn more from every visit.
