Portuguese museums attracted 17.2 million people this year
People are more and more interested in going to museums, to the cinema and attending cultural events. Last year, mostly due to the increase in tourists, the number of museum visitors increased.
Culture attracts more and more people, and the increase in visitors last year proves it. In this period, museums saw their number of visitors increase by 10% while cinemas and cultural venues’ visitors increased by 4%. According to the Portuguese Office for National Statistics (INE), the expenses with cultural and creative activities also increased largely, by 16%.
For those who seek to spice up their lives with a bit of culture, they might find a lot of options in terms of museums, cinemas and cultural events. Last year, these cultural attractions lured 17.2 million people to museums, 10.6% more than in 2016, and such increase was due to the increase in foreign visitors, which accounted for one million of that total.
Last year, there were 15.7 million people going to the cinema, 4.6% more than in 2016, with revenue reaching €81.7m, which represented a 5.8% increase. In terms of cultural shows, there was a record value of 15.4 million attendants, representing a 3.9% increase and which contributed to a total of 83 million euros in revenue.
Last year, the total of workers in museums, cinemas and at cultural events went up to 81.3 thousand people, which was lesser than last year (81.7 thousand). The majority of those workers were men, with ages between 25 and 44 years old, and with a higher education than the average of the country.
This increase in visitors is also evidenced in the increase in business volume of the more than 55 thousand companies in the cultural and creative sector, reaching a total volume of €4.9bn, according to INE.
Exports of cultural goods also increased, by 33.7%, reaching a total of €57.4m, while imports of cultural goods reached €180m, an increase of 17.4% in comparison to last year.
However, the printed materials, such as newspapers, magazines, or periodical publications, all decreased, having lost 20.3% of the total market flow.
With these activities, the city halls spent €450.1m, an increase of 16.7% in comparison to 2016.
