A Step Back in Time: Visiting Museums in the Heart of Bucharest During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Victoriei Avenue is considered the oldest street in Bucharest. Very attractive for both local and international tourists and featuring famous museums in Romania, this important road located in the very heart of Bucharest attracted, despite important lockdowns, visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering previous studies on the cultural visitor profile for classic and digital visitors of Bucharest museums, the present study exploited this extraordinary research opportunity, aiming to discover similarities and/or differences in the profile of museum visitors and their preferences and satisfaction in terms of cultural consumption during restrictive periods such as the one imposed by the sanitary crisis. The main research method consisted of qualitative interviews, encompassing both the opinions of visitors and key employees of museums located on Victoriei Avenue. The results show that for both tourists and stakeholders, the role of museums did not change but was mostly accentuated through their well-being and leisure function during the pandemic. Generally, the visitor profile for these attractions remained unchanged, but the need and perception for time spent in museums could be nuanced or modified during stressful and restrictive periods. In the case of COVID-19, this was also impacted by staycations and an increased online visiting phenomenon.