Air Connectivity and Proximity of Large Airports as an Added Value for Museums

Abstract

Museum studies is an academic and practical field of research that provides new challenges and opportunities to researchers thanks to the extraordinary growth of museums worldwide in the last 20 years (McCarthy and Brown 2022). There is, however, a need for more research on museum economics, including tourism (Silberberg and Lord 2015). The tourism industry has become the cornerstone of the economy for most of the world's tourist destinations thanks to the aviation industry, especially in the capital cities of developed countries where large airports are localized, as well as providing a high level of connectivity in the rest of the country. Tourism is highly dependent on the aviation sector (Florido-Benítez 2022a; 2022b). The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates that air travel is the most popular choice of travel for leisure tourism (UNWTO 2020; 2021), and inside the tourism industry, museums represent a growing attraction for international tourists (Nowacki and Kruczek 2021). They help drive the tourism and aviation sectors, and play a cultural and economic role in their communities (Florido-Benítez 2023; Maxim 2017). City museums around the world empower their visitors to consider their roles as active city comakers (Grincheva 2022). “Superstar museums,” which are a “must see” for tourists and have achieved cult status (Frey 1998), depend on digital and physical positioning in the media (Plaza et al. 2022).