I visitatori del museo di Biologia Marina "Pietro Parenzan": censimento conoscitivo

The number of visitors of the Marine Biology Museum Pietro Parenzan has been studied from 05 June 1999 to 31 December 2012, obtaining data from the visitors register. Comparing data with those obtained in the precedent period (Fanelli et al. 2000) a remarkable increase is evident. This has been attributed to the strategy to add and/or renew the exhibitions every 2-3 years. As regarding the subdivision of visits along one year, during Winter and Spring the bulk of visits are due to schools; during Summer, on the contrary, the visits are mainly due to beach tourists who in great numbers crowd the town of Porto Cesareo (where the Museum is). Months of lowest visit flows are generally June and November. Generally local visitors (considered as those of the Province of Lecce) are the majority, but some year they have been surpassed by extra-regional visitors. The number of visitors per year varied around 10,000 – 12,000 in the last 8 years, suggesting that this could be considered the carrying capacity of the Museum at its present capability of attraction and/or visitors management. It is however evident that a margin to amelioration exists (e.g. recruiting visitors from extra-region territories or in non crowded parts of the year) due to the fact that visitors are mostly coming from the surroundings, and that minimum presences have been recorded for many months, each year. The growth of the numbers of visitors, up to the present sustained simply by a public side demand, should rely in an enhanced Museum side offer