“I also made Elon Musk pay, ticket cost guarantees resources”

“This App represents a further step towards modernization and digitalization, which is one of the objectives that the European Union has entrusted to us”. This is how the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, presented this morning, at the Mic headquarters, the Musei Italiani app, the official and free application of the National Museum System. Officially presented exactly one year after its activation – it was launched on July 3, 2023 with only the Pantheon museum – the app represents a modern and digital system for purchasing tickets, which allows you to have real-time information on the history of museums, exhibitions, collections, events and opening hours of museum institutions, and to obtain updated information for the disabled.

“In recent years, Italian museums have grown enormously in terms of the quality of their offerings,” Sangiuliano explained. “They already had an intrinsic value, of course, but we have combined the quality of their offerings with their historical value, because a museum must also be accessible. Alongside protection, we must therefore add enhancement.” And the data shows that the system pays off: in 2023, both visitors and revenues increased almost exponentially. The growing trend shows, in fact, in the Mic data, that 2023 closed with almost 314 million euros in revenue and almost 58 million visitors, or +22.68% compared to 2022.

“Ticket Cost? I Made Elon Musk Pay Too”

As for the cost of tickets, “we are enormously generous in giving free museums. There are free Sundays, there is April 25, June 2, November 4. They are 15 days a year. Under 15 years old there is no charge, and then there are the protected categories. If my fellow journalists – is Sangiuliano’s invitation – make a comparison with other European countries, Italy is among the most generous countries. For the rest, however, we must make people pay for the ticket”, also to “guarantee resources for the museum itself”. “I – says the minister – I also made Elon Musk pay for the Pantheon ticketwhen he came. If he doesn’t pay for it, who should pay for it?” he jokes.

“406 national museums and cultural sites are included in the app – explains the General Director of the museums Massimo Osanna – and of these, 130 have the possibility of direct purchase, that is, without a concessionaire”. This is, explains Osanna, a small revolution of the ministry that follows the political direction of Minister Sangiuliano, who noted the situation of many places that were free”. This “was not a question of democracy, but was due to the fact that these places were not considered. Paying a ticket also means having more resources for those museums”. The Italian Museums app “is completely funded by the Pnrr accessibility, it is one of its most mature fruits – Osanna emphasizes -. Gradually all museums will be able to enter it, even non-state ones, because it is designed for the entire Italian museum system, made up of approximately 4,700 museums”.