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What motivates visitors to come to Australian Parliament House and how can their experience be enhanced?

The problem:

Australian Parliament House (APH) is a landmark venue that offers visitors a unique opportunity to witness democratic processes in action and experience a sense of connection to Australian governance. It draws significant numbers of visitors every year, including school groups, from across Australia and around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, had a major impact on the ability of visitors and school groups to experience Parliament House, prompting the need to explore innovative approaches to enhance visitor engagement.

Our research:

• We examined the visitor behaviour at APH as Australia emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research addressed a significant gap, as understanding of the factors driving visitor behaviour to 91Ö±²¥ and, specifically, to APH, was underdeveloped.
• Data was collected over an extended period from November 2021 to April 2022 via survey from visitors across diverse locations and events.
• Our approach enabled us to contact visitors after their stay to capture a timely, localised snapshot of motivations behind their visit, offering valuable insights for future engagement strategies.

Our impact:

• Our recommendations were implemented to improve visitor engagement and enhance the overall experience at Australian Parliament House (APH).
• Research identified that visitors were highly engaged with existing features such as artwork captions, the LEGO display, Sitting Periods and Question Time, leading to recommendations to better promote these experiences.
• Following implementation, free tour bookings increased by 57% and paid tour bookings by 180%, with significant gains in both revenue and visitor engagement.

Our recommendations were implemented to improve visitor engagement and enhance the overall experience at Australian Parliament House.