Heritage sites continue to attract the French, especially those in the History centre.
The French are always very enthusiastic about heritage. No less than six out of ten people have, at least once in the last 12 months, declared having visited an exhibition, a museum or a monument. In particular, there is a growing interest in religious monuments (43% of French people have visited one in the last 12 months) and castles, fortifications and palaces (35% of French people). These two types of monuments have been attracting more and more French people over the last six years (+6 points and +3 points respectively). The “History” theme remains the most attractive for our fellow citizens, ahead of the “Science and Society” and “Arts” centres.
Young people aged 18-24 report visiting more heritage places in 2018
The study shows an increase in the proportion of 18-24 year-olds reporting that they visit heritage sites (+4 points for monuments and +5 points for museums or exhibitions). This age group thus becomes the one with the highest rate of declared visits. This evolution is probably to be linked to the financial accessibility of cultural places for young people, who are very sensitive to these issues (e.g. free access to permanent collections in national establishments for young people aged 18-25 who are residents or nationals of a European Union country, discounts or free access for students in certain territorial museums, etc.). It is also to be linked to the renewal of the museum and heritage offer already under way. Young people aged 18 to 24 are particularly attracted by “shows, concerts, performances in museums and monuments” (35% of them) and by “festive evenings in museums and monuments” (36%), as well as by “one-off activities that provide new experiences” (25%). This finding echoes one of the issues highlighted in the report resulting from the “Museums of the 21st Century” mission2 : the need to adapt the museum offer to the younger generations.
Besançon, Time Museum: 38’848 visitors in 2017