Art Gallery of Western Australia visitor numbers drop by 100,000 over three years

Total visitor numbers to the Art Gallery of Western Australia are continuing to fall, with about 100,000 fewer people visiting than just three years ago.

Revealed in the Gallery's recently released 2015/16 annual report, the visitor declines has coincided with a doubling in revenue, largely due to a rise in sponsorship and bequests.

The revenue rise partly offset a previous $7 million Western Australian Government funding cut, which Gallery Director Dr Stefano Carboni last year blamed for the sharp fall in visitor numbers, as well as the slowing state economy.

This year, the annual report blamed the ongoing fall in visitors on the closure of the gallery's cafe for several months.

A total of 284,677 people visited the gallery during the last financial year, compared with 289,413 the previous year, and 385,230 in 2012/13.

Meanwhile, virtual visitors to the gallery numbered 189,262, while the annual report said actual Gallery visitation was down by almost 12,000 people on 2014?15 figures.

The annual report advised “the closure of the cafe for several months during a change of licensee, and reduction in incidental visitors from it, was likely a contributing factor to the reduction.”

Revenue was a bright spot in the gallery's annual report, up from $3.4 million in 2014/15 to just over $6 million in 2015/16.

Sponsorships more than doubled to almost $1.4 million and there was $1.1 million in bequest trusts and special purpose fund contributions.

Dr Carboni said it was still putting in place a new system for delivering services, as recommended by the Government's Agency Expenditure Review.

In his Director's report within the annual report, Dr Carboni wrote “the gallery continues to operate with a reduced but dedicated staff in order to deliver the best possible programs and displays to the public.”

Images courtesy of the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

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