Waikato Museum enjoys bumper visitor numbers

Waikato Museum has just completed its most successful February in terms of visitor numbers since 2000.

The total number of visits made to Waikato Museum in the month of February has significantly exceeded previous February totals, reaching 8800. This marks a substantial increase from last year’s February visitor numbers of 7159.

Visitor numbers have been consistently increasing on a month-by-month basis alongside a rise in attendance at the museum’s public programmes and unique visitors to the museum website www.waikatomuseum.co.nz . There have been over 84 per cent more unique visitors to the website so far this year than at this time in 2007.

Waikato Museum director Kate Vusoniwailala says that it’s great to see so many people engaging in the museum experience and the visitor increases position the museum for a successful year.

“In line with Council’s Creativity & Identity Strategy, we offer a diverse and constantly evolving experience to our community and city visitors and it’s extremely positive to see this reflected in our visitor numbers.

“Several highlight exhibitions have gained real traction, including The Mighty River Waikato: from Hinaki to Hydropower, the award-winning Mrs Brown’s Big Day Out and the special photographic exhibition Te Atairangikaahu: the Soaring Hawk of the Dawn.

“In addition to these exhibitions, our comprehensive events and public programmes portfolio really engage visitors and add to their experience. These events and programmes range from pizza-making to lunchtime musical concerts to full-scale family carnival days. We’re committed to providing learning and enjoyment through a wide range of mediums and these visitor numbers are a fabulous start to the new year.”