2024 Edition
The 2024 edition of Sentomus was a great success, with over 45,000 respondents sharing their opinions on museums’ services and impact. More than 200 museums across Europe took part in this large-scale study. The results provide valuable insights for museums to optimize their operations and better respond to the needs of their visitors and diverse target groups. View the closing webinar of Sentomus 2024 via this link. Download the 2024 report here.
Due to the strong success and at the request of many museums, Sentomus has been transitioned into a permanent tool that is repeated annually. This gives participating museums the opportunity not only to gain up-to-date insights but also to track the evolution of their results and efforts over time. Museums joining for the first time can use their participation as a baseline and immediately benchmark their results anonymously against comparable institutions, both nationally and internationally. Sentomus can now be used as an ad hoc tool for occasional measurement or as a continuous, permanent solution.
With the research results, museums can strengthen their position locally, nationally, and at the international level. The collected data offer not only valuable insights into visitor needs and satisfaction across segments, but also enable museums to substantiate their societal impact. This helps them clarify their role and contribution in education, inclusion, and culture.
Furthermore, the annual repetition of Sentomus allows museums to monitor trends and compare their own results—both internally and with similar institutions (anonymously). This makes Sentomus a powerful instrument for museums to demonstrate their relevance in policy discussions and advocacy, at local and international levels, and to position themselves more strongly within the cultural and public sector.
Pilot Study
Prior to the 2024 edition of this European study, a successful pilot study was conducted in collaboration with ICOM Belgium Flanders and the University of Antwerp.
The pilot was carried out at 50 museums, representing a cross-section of the museum landscape: both small and large institutions as well as diverse types of museums participated. The results of the pilot study showed that museum visitors are highly satisfied with the museums and their visit experience. It demonstrated that the local museum plays a strong societal role and has a positive impact on visitors’ development and well-being. The study concluded with a dedicated workshop day for all participating museums.
“This research is a fantastic opportunity for museums to get to know and engage their audience through a low-threshold methodology. Sentomus gave us detailed feedback about the museum and is very useful in our daily operations. Benchmarking with other museums was extremely interesting.
The study also demonstrated the importance and very positive impact of the museum on the well-being of our visitors, and is a great tool for us to substantiate conversations with our stakeholders.”
— Sergio Servellón, President ICOM Belgium Flanders, Member of the Board of NEMO, Director FeliXart Museum
Following the successful pilot, a workshop day was organized for the participating museums.
The workshop included a presentation of the results and practical guidance on how to act on the individual research report. A compelling panel discussion closed the day.
The enthusiastic feedback during the workshop made clear that the study provided clear added value for the participating museums.
It was very important for them to have structured, evidence-based data about their own museum and visitors, and to be able to benchmark anonymously against similar institutions.
Prof. Dr. Annick Schrame. University of Antwerp.