Museums in the COVID-19 pandemic: the impact of economic stimulus policy and market strategy of the national palace museums in Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research examines the impact of the voucher-based economic stimulus policy and market strategy on museum traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan. We apply a univariate time-series model (ARMAX) to daily-visit data of the National Palace Museums in Taiwan during 2016–2021, showing results that the consumption voucher program effectively did boost the number of visitors amid overall declines in tourists due to the lockdown. A comparison among the National Palace Museum branches further reveals that holding more outdoor art events by one branch induced a more potent effect of the stimulus policy. The findings suggest that outdoor art events can be a helpful strategy for museums, which traditionally rely on indoor art exhibitions, to mitigate the impact of a pandemic.