The benefits of having such a prestigious cultural space as the Rodin Museum in a city like Santa Cruz de Tenerife seem obvious. A world-renowned brand, which will offer a differentiated perspective from the other two existing spaces in the world (Paris and Philadelphia), by equipping the roof of the Viera y Clavijo Culture Park, home of the Rodin Museum, as an open-air exhibition space, with views direct to the sea, to which will be added the planned sculptural works, including the presence of an original-copy of one of Rodin’s main works: The Kiss. And finally, it will be the only museum in the world outside of Paris that will feature a replica of La Puerta del Infierno.
All this will attract visitors, both local and foreign, who will leave wealth in the city. Knowing the exact amount of that wealth is what the Santa Cruz City Council has studied through the study of the economic impact in which in the most conservative scenario, the Rodin Santa Cruz Museum would receive half a million visitors a year with a higher economic impact at 61 million, while in the most optimistic, those visitors would exceed 900,000 and the impact would be 158 million.
To arrive at these figures, the study, to which DIARIO DE AVISOS has had access, relies on data already provided by two cities with international museums, such as Malaga and Bilbao. The first is a city with characteristics similar to Santa Cruz, inasmuch as it is within a tourist area with a large influx (Costa del Sol), and that has applied in recent years a commitment to museum culture, which has had as This has resulted in a 54% increase in the number of tourists visiting the city since the Picasso Museum opened its doors in 2011. As for Bilbao, the presence of the Guggenheim Museum serves as an example of what the economic reach in a city with an international museum.
The report commissioned by the City Council to estimate the number of visitors that the Rodin Santa Cruz Museum would receive takes as a reference the 703,807 people who visited the Picasso Museum in Malaga in 2019. A figure that is 9.9% of the travelers staying that it received the city that year, and that were just over seven million. This last figure is similar to the one Tenerife received that year, plus the local population. In this way, a first visitor data for the Rodin Tenerife Museum would be 570,690, while if one takes into account that the average stay of travelers on the island is greater than in Malaga, the most optimistic figure would show higher visits a million people a year.
To confirm this number, the study uses a second method, which allows it to analyze the tourist data of Tenerife, and distinguish between total tourists, excursionists and cruise passengers, as well as the motivations that lead them to travel, especially taking into account among the latter the cultural
Applying these filters, the result is that the Rodin Santa Cruz Museum could receive 496,000 visitors in its first year; in the second, more than 540,000; in the third 586,000; in the room 630,000; and in the fifth 664.005. While in the most optimistic scenario, in its first year it could exceed 783,000 visitors; the second the 878,000; and in the third the 962,000; to exceed a million in the fourth and fifth years. Considering that in the third year the project would already be consolidated, the study estimates that the number of visitors would be around those 586,000, a figure that does not differ much from that reached in the first place.
With the estimated number of visitors, the study addresses the museum’s revenue estimate. Thus, for the most conservative scenario, in the first year, only for the sale of tickets would exceed six million euros, to which would be added a million more for other income. In total, more than seven million for the first year of the museum’s life. In a more optimistic scenario, that total income would go up to 12 million. Again, taking the third year as a reference, it is concluded that income would range between 9 million for the most conservative view and 16 million for the optimistic view.
Finally, the report addresses the total economic impact on the city of the Rodin Museum, with direct, indirect and induced effects. In this case, it is based on figures from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which in 2019 had an impact of 440 million.
When extrapolating these numbers to the future Rodin Santa Cruz Museum, the result is that with an estimated 586,000 visitors (those in the third year), and applying a reduction coefficient of 50% compared to the Bilbao numbers, to guarantee that expectations are as high as As realistic as possible, the economic impact for the city is more than 61 million euros. If you go to a more optimistic scenario, with 962,000 visitors (those in the fourth year), and the reduction coefficient is 25%, the impact that is generated is 158 million.
To reach these figures, both ticket sales, the main factor of income, and that the study figures in more than six million euros for the first year, as well as other means of income such as merchandising, rent, have been taken into account. of spaces, sponsorships or restaurant and cafeteria services, which in that first year could exceed one million.
An impact greater than that of Carnival
The councilor for the Treasury, Juan José Martínez, explains that the numbers have been adjusted so as not to exceed the expectations that a museum of these characteristics represents for the city. “They have put the worst scenarios, using coefficients reduced by half, to be sure that, at a minimum, this economic impact in the most conservative scenario is achieved.”
Martínez defends that “it is a greater impact even than the one that Carnival can have, among other things because it is something that is maintained throughout the year, because we are talking about that, in the optimistic scenario, 158 million are reached for the city” .
For the mayor of the Treasury, “the investment is justified by itself because the management of the museum is, in itself, profitable.” To this is added “the attraction of other intangibles such as having another type of tourism more linked to culture, with a greater spending capacity”.
The mayor insists that the calculations are moderate. “An example of how conservative we have been is that in Bilbao, for the Guggenheim they estimate that each visitor generates an expense in the city of almost 14 euros, while we have considered slightly less than half, six euros and a bit, when it is logical to think that anyone who comes here is going to spend much more than six euros, as soon as they have a coffee and a sandwich exceeds that figure ”.
Explains the also mayor of Housing that “this previous study helped us to make the final decision to bid to have the Rodin Museum in our city. It allowed us to see the economic viability of the model, to see how it holds up. We have tickets, sponsorships, what can be entered through the store, which in the case of Rodin Paris is a very important part of their income ”. In the agreement with Santa Cruz, Martínez explains “a part of all their income is included, also merchandising, but also other products such as scale reproductions of sculptures …”
This income also includes the rental of spaces such as the gardens for presentations. “Rodin Paris, for example, rents his gardens to brands such as Dior or Gucci to do their fashion shows, but also for weddings or specific company events”.
The Councilor for Culture, Gladis de León, for her part, highlights that, “from a cultural point of view we are talking about increasing the offer of the city, making it a benchmark in terms of sculptures.” “We can say – he continued – that it is a complement to the exhibition of sculptures in the street that in 2023 turns 50”. To all this it should be added that “it would also be a lever for Canarian artists, because we cannot forget that one part will have a room with exhibitions of artists from the Islands”.
City of sculptures
The mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, concludes that “these data show that the future Rodin Museum will be a key to boosting the economy, not only in the city, but on the island, as one more attraction for the offer to our visitors. This economic value will be added to the cultural one, as the axis of the culture of the Islands and the consolidation of Santa Cruz de Tenerife as the capital of sculpture, a title it has held for decades with the international exhibition of street sculptures ”.
Those responsible for the Rodin Museum Paris visit the capital in January
Those responsible for the Rodin Paris Museum will finally visit Santa Cruz, and the Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park in January. Specifically, they are scheduled to do so on the 13th and 14th. In this way, the visit that was initially scheduled for this month of December is delayed. After this trip, we will proceed to finalize the details of the definitive agreement that will allow this exhibition space to be installed in Santa Cruz
