The Richmond Olympic Oval says it has more than doubled the number of expected visitors to its Olympic museum in the first year of operation.
According to the redacted (partially censored) Business Plan 2.0 put forth to Richmond city council, and subsequently the public, in January, 2013, the projected attendance in the first year of operation was 10,000 visitors.
This projection, however, came before the Richmond Olympic Experience (ROX) increased its reported budget in December, 2014, by 75 per cent ($4.3 million), to feature, among other things, interactive virtual reality games.
No amended business plan was put forth publicly after the budget increased, and ROX’s opening was delayed one year; however, nearing opening day, the Oval stated it was targeting 11,590 visitors.
But, Oval spokesperson Aran Kay told the Richmond News last week ROX recorded 23,270 visitors from opening day (Nov. 21, 2015) to Nov. 30, 2016.
The average established Olympic museum is said to take in 100,000 visitors.
The city has stated it expects attendance growth in the first five years of operations, although there are no exact estimates given.
The Oval will not reveal how much gate revenue ROX took in, on grounds that “it is proprietary information that may effect the business affairs of the corporation.”
For similar reasons, Kay said Business Plan 3.0, which was said to go before council in 2014, but never did (even in a redacted format), will not be released to the public.
It’s the input of those visitors that was instrumental in the Oval’s board of directors approving a $1.4 million renovation to ROX that is to commence March, 2018 and finish that fall.
“Staff and our volunteers have had the chance to observe and solicit feedback from thousands of visitors. We now have a better understanding of visitor objectives and areas of interest, plus the flow and movement dynamics within this highly interactive and digital museum,” said Kay.
“The Olympic Experience upgrade and expansion plan focuses on better highlighting our feature exhibits, adding new and fresh exhibits to encourage repeat visitation, relocating less popular exhibits, and addressing visitor flow through the venue. The objective of the expansion and upgrade is to improve the overall visitor experience and to encourage repeat visitation,” said Kay.
In order to freshen up new exhibits, Oval and City of Richmond staff have maintained the need to visit other Olympic Museum Network (OMN) facilities around the world, annually.
In 2016, Kay said two staff members visited the flagship OMN museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
One staff member attended the Olympic Museums Network Annual General Assembly in China.
As well, “one staff member visited the Olympic Museum in Nanjing and met with government officials in Yanqing District of Beijing (alpine venue for Beijing 2022) regarding establishing an Olympic museum in their district,” said Kay.
The upcoming renovation will be paid for by hotel room taxes. Last year, city council approved increasing said tax from two to three per cent, after the tourism reserves were drained.
The Richmond Hotel Association approved the measure (17 of 24 hotels), according to a staff report.
The tax will fund destination marketing, sport hosting and tourism attractions, such as ROX.
The Oval is a subsidiary corporate entity of the City of Richmond.
