The positive externalities of an art museum. A zero-truncated Poisson approach

Only in the 80's cultural activity has began to be viewed as a part of tourism (OECD, 2009). The UNWTO estimated that cultural tourism accounted for 40% of all international tourism, up from 37% in 1995 (Mintel, 2011). Museums play a relevant role as repositories of education, social cohesion and personal development. They are a stimulus for the economy, since culture consumers generally have a higher spending propensity than other consumers' segments (Europa Inform, 2004). Museums are expected to produce positive externalities that can be called cultural spill-over. A museum will not benefit only the public (private) investor but society as a whole because new knowledge will enter society's pool of cultural knowledge. This study predicts the repeat visitation to the MART of Rovereto, one of the most important museums of modern and contemporary art in Italy. The survey data were obtained during autumn 2009 on site. Via a zero-truncated Poisson estimation, a positive effect on the odds of having a repeat visitation to the museum, is given by either the presence of a temporary exposition or a permanent and temporary exposition; the probability to revisit the museum within the same year; visitation of the annex "Casa Depero", an important futurist arts exposition, restored in January 2009; visitation of any other city that hosted MART. Negative effects on the odds are given by the distance; number of people travelling with the interviewed visitor; the probability to recommend the museum to friends and family.