I have followed this thread with interest.

I think that a much bigger longer-term (or perhaps immediate?) issue is
not the lessons to be learned from, or any convergence with, "theme" and
other amusement parks and entertainment venues, but potential threat from  
the rapidly spreading concept of the leisure shopping "experience". 

Certainly in Europe many large-scale shopping malls, garden centres and
even individual traditional department stores are allocating budgets
beyond the wildest dreams of even the most generously supported or most
richly endowed museums for museum-like activities to entertain their
customers (and encourage them to stay much longer on site - the aim
often being at least a half-day, if not a whole day, visit).  

I suppose this trend can be traced back to those art exhibition galleries
and even full-scale museums developed inside leading Japanese department
stores from the late 1960s onwards, but it has clearly accelerated and
spread across many parts of the world in recent years.  In Britain we must
now have at least 20 major out-of-town shopping centres which focus to a
greater or lesser extent on arts, "heritage" or other museum-like themes.
Some now devote as much as 50% of their floor space to offering
cultural, entertainment and catering facilities and experiences, rather
than actual retailing.  

It is reported that with the growing convergence between such retailing
and theme parks, museums and heritage sites, there is even discussion
behind the scenes of the practicability of charging admission. (I visited
very recently one very large garden centre in England which - while still
allowing free admission to the main cash-and carry retailing area, now
charges around UK£ 5 (US$ 8) for viewing the greenhouse and botanic 
displays.)

I think it is very significant that after identifying visits to museums
and heritage sites and buildings at the top of  the out-of-home leisure
activity for British family groups for 17 years in a row, the highly
respected annual opinion and activity survey involved found that in 1997
this was knocked into second place by ---- leisure shopping. 

In his keynote address to the AAM 1999 Annual Meeting in Cleveland, rising
star of the new generation of management "gurus", Joseph B. Pine, analysed
this phenomenon and the implications for museums of the rise of what he
and his business partner have termed "The Experience Economy"  in their
1999 book of the same title.  (Pine should know since, as he freely
admittted in Cleveland, he and others like him are very actively advising
as well-paid consultants the retail and other consumer-related sectors
(e.g. catering) on how they can learn from best museum, arts, heritage and
related practice in enhancing their customers' "experience".)



Patrick J. Boylan  
(Professor of Heritage Policy and Management)
City University, London,

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