News of the closure of another small museum, this time a small operation in Kakaako, triggered Stan Fichtman to ponder the situation of Hawaii museums, many of which have to struggle to stay healthy. Stan’s comment, which is posted on his PoliticsHawaii.com blog, is titled, “The Brutality of the Museum Market.
You may remember that Fichtman wrote earlier about the situation of the aviation museum at Barbers Point.
“What keeps some of these museums open and thriving and some of them to die on the capitalistic vine?,” Fichtman wonders.
Then he answered his own question.
The key I have learned is the tour industry (Roberts, Polynesian Hospitality, Grey Line, etc.) and whether they direct traffic to these entities. Looking into this, I found out that if you’re not on the tour bus routes, where passengers are dropped off on pre-paid tours, your entity is already behind the eight-ball when it comes to people traffic to your location.
Fichtman wonders about the deals that bring tour buses and their passengers that make so much difference to the finances of certain spots, including museums and restaurants. Are these simple negotiated deals? Are some deals darker than others?
It’s a question that likely needs more digging. Thanks to Stan for raising the questions.
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Definitely a payment issue. Some stores at Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waiks pay commissions to tour guides (ESP Chinese) if the gaggle they bring into the shop spend freely and don’t press for discounts.
There used to be two little museums in Chinatown. I don’t know if they’re still there. One covered the history of Honolulu’s Chinatown. The other covered Chinatown … and Christmas Island. Christmas Island (Kiritimati, the one in Kiribati) was a Jones Act ocean tour destination and the home island of the museum owner’s wife.
Good point about the tour buses. As for me and David, we visit the Honolulu Museum of Art every month, usually on the free first Wednesday of the month.
And then again in a Darwinian world, why should ALL museums be allowed to survive? I’ve never been to the Barbers Point museum but seriously, how many military-industrial aviation museums does one island need?
The one on Ford Island (I went many many years ago) was loaded with displays, many of which were still tarped in an old hangar, and had a nice indoor exhibition center. It seems to be WELL MANAGED and WELL FUNDED in addition to its proximity to the USS Missouri and USS Arizona Memorial sites. In other words, a natural fit.
Just let the Barbers Point site die, transfer whatever can fit to the Pacific Aviation Museum and learn that not EVERYTHING can be a sacred, holy relic to be preserved for the next thousand years…