Integrated evaluation of visitor experience factors in the scope of museum management

PurposeThis study aims to determine museum experiences by analyzing the TripAdvisor reviews of the museum visitors in Gaziantep and offer suggestions for improving the visitors' experiences by taking museum curators' opinions.Design/methodology/approachThe case study method was used as one of the qualitative approaches in the study. The research comprises two stages. TripAdvisor reviews about five museums in Gaziantep were analyzed in the first stage, and museum curators' opinions on the visitor complaint reasons and solution suggestions were discussed in the second stage.FindingsThe study showed that satisfying or non-satisfying experience factors might differ according to visitors, museum curators and both visitors and museum curators. Therefore, each museum curator should effectively manage every component of visitor experience factors by its target audience.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this study has some valuable findings and contributes to the literature, it also has limitations. The study's sample consists of five museums in Gaziantep. Further studies can be carried out on a larger population and sample. The data for determining visitor experiences, the first stage of the research, were obtained only from an online platform (TripAdvisor).Practical implicationsThe proposed model provides a holistic perspective on evaluating and managing visitor experience. There may be structural problems (small size of the museum area, lack of parking spaces and elevators, etc.) with the museum beyond the manager's control. Also, the lack of information and communication (limited concept, lack of artifacts, etc.) causes criticisms of the museum.Social implicationsThis paper contributes to the museum management literature with a model for enriching the quality of the museum experience and increasing the museum's attractiveness. The study showed that museums contribute to the visitor's experience in all dimensions. While visitors thought museums primarily contribute to object experience, museum curators thought museums contribute more to visitors' cognitive experience and other experience elements.Originality/valueThe present study analyzed the visitor comments and the opinions of museum curators from a holistic perspective, considering the internal and external factors that are effective in the visitor experience, and revealed the reasons for the visitors' negative experience and the solution suggestions toward the improvement of the visitor experience.