The folks at IMPACTS did a Q&A recently covering much of the research they have been publishing over the last year. Their posts do a good job of explaining trends, but obviously people want clarification on some granular points so they were there to provide insights and answers.

In the recap post and video (subscription required) they reviewed their environmental scan of which segments are trending as well or better than they were pre-pandemic (zoos, aquariums, live theater, history museums/sites, art museums) and which are facing headwinds (science centers, children’s museums, orchestras, other performing arts.)

Dilenschneider addressed this data in the context of the expectations many non-profit boards of directors who feel that that attendance should be increasing 25% every year since the pandemic. Whereas the data shows that if you are an art museum for example, and are hitting or exceeding the 2.7% average increase in attendance you are doing pretty well.

Her colleague, Scott Corwon noted that the NFL and college football each has seen around a 19% decrease in on-site attendance over the last decade. He suggested that if organizations as well-resourced as they are seeing a decrease it isn’t because they aren’t smart about marketing or that people don’t like football, it is increasingly difficult to get people to leave their homes.

One trend they identified that is something of a double-edge sword is that people are focusing more on engaging in local activities. They are looking for places that are easy to reach and don’t require a lot of advance planning and arrangements. So there is a lot of opportunity for arts organizations to connect and serve their local community.

The reason for this local engagement is the somewhat negative side of the aforementioned sword – time crunch. When people are leaving their homes to do something locally, they have a specific amount of time they intend to spend.

For entities like museums, that means they may not engage with all aspects of the collection if they only plan to spend 90-120 minutes. Visitors are seeking meaningful experiences in a shorter time frame so the IMPACTs presenters making that experience available sooner than later. Don’t make people have to work for the payoff. They suggest the first 15 minutes should be superlative.

The IMPACTs also staff caution that what visitors think is important and most interesting may not align with what professional insiders think is most interesting so it is worth making sure you understand what your visitors seek from the experience.

On the positive side, based on data collected in 2025 it doesn’t take very long for visitors to feel they have had a meaningful experience and gotten value from their visit. The sweet spot is about 60-90 minutes with a slight uptick from 91-150 minutes from which it starts to slip downward. People may not be seeing everything you wish they would, but they are walking away satisfied with their visit.

To be clear, this is data for exhibit based experiences. Performing arts experiences are different and more difficult to measure as clearly since: 1 – people understand there is a specific time they need to spend to get the whole experience. It isn’t as self-directed as a visit to a zoo or garden. 2 – performance experiences vary between short festival performances and three hour long operas.

The presenters say that suggestions for 60, 90, 120 minute experiences tend to be well-received by visitors of exhibit based organizations. Positioning the remainder of the collection as something people can look forward to on their next visit, perhaps in a manner akin to “staff picks” cards found in book stores can inspire a return visit sooner than the 24.6 month cycle most exhibit based visitors average.

Along these same lines, they also mentioned having suggestions of other things to do in the area to offer visitors as well. This can provide a sense of “critical mass and density of experience” that enhances the perceived value of the visit and make people feel more inclined to return. For example, in addition to visiting the museum, there is a nice Riverwalk, restaurants, and shops within an easy walk.