Croatian museums experience record increase in visitors

Pula

ZAGREB, 21 Feb (Hina) – The number of museum visitors rose by 27% in 2023 compared to 2022, despite the fact that nearly a fifth of Croatian museums were closed due to reconstruction or realisation of new permanent exhibitions, the Museum Documentation Centre (MDC) said on Tuesday.

According to the results of a poll conducted by the MDC in 156 museums, in 2023 museums had 4,397,405 visitors, only 16% fewer compared to the pre-pandemic 2019, when the number of museum visitors stood at 5.2 million.

For the ninth year in a row, the Pula-based Istria Museum of Archaeology attracted the largest number of visitors, 558,000 of them.

It was followed by the Dubrovnik Museums with a record 413,000 visitors, the Museums of the Croatian Zagorje (312,000), the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum (259,000), and the Split City Museum, which together with the Cellars of Diocletian’s Palace had 252,000 visitors.

Diocletian’s Palace 

The number of foreign visitors also increased, by 68% to 1.532 million, with the Istria Museum of Archaeology, the Dubrovnik Museums and the Split City Museum accounting for nearly two thirds of these visits.

The number of visitors to permanent exhibitions also increased, by 31.5% to 2.752 million, while the number of primary and secondary school students who visited museums went up by 21.8% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching 610,000.