Designmuseum Danmark does not expect to reopen in the foreseeable future

Designmuseum Danmark had its best visitor year so far in 2019, but now the corona crisis has turned the otherwise popular museum into a shadow of its former self. This means that it may take a while for the museum to reopen.

The design museum in Bredgade is one of the Danish museums with the largest proportion of international visitors – as much as 80 percent.

With forecasts from Tourism Economics (a part of Oxford Economics) which estimates the tourism flows will only be roughly restored by the end of 2023, the museum will face a very difficult time. At the same time, the museum belongs to a smaller group of Danish museums, where own income is the dominant part of revenue.

Museum director Anne-Louise Sommer says:

“This is a historic crisis for the museum. We are looking at a radically altered and critical visitor image as a consequence of COVID-19, where the situation of our museum will be adversely affected, now and for a long period to come. The decline in major international tourism flows makes the museum’s visitor base and thus the economy extremely uncertain.”

“It is good that the vital functions of society, including the culture, can slowly begin to reopen. However, all forecasts and analysis show that it will be a very slow process. On this basis, and to ensure that the museum is strengthened out of the crisis, we intend to remain closed until the end of 2021. Therefore, we now need to change the museum and our business model.”

“The expected extended closure period means that a number of tasks related to the museum’s activities and public activities are planned to lapse. The fact that the museum’s finances are so radically challenged will affect day-to-day operations and may affect a number of our talented and loyal staff. It is deeply regrettable that the corona crisis has had these consequences,” concludes Anne-Louise Sommer.

Expected reopening at the end of 2021
The museum expects to use the intended closing period to restructure its business model as well as undertake a much-needed renovation and redevelopment, which will, among other things, secure the foundation of the historic and listed building. The funded project will be initiated as soon as possible. If all goes to plan, the museum expects to be ready to welcome the public by the end of 2021 in a museum that will hopefully still be one of the internationally leading design museums and in the top 10 in Denmark, as well as the top 5 of most visited museums in Copenhagen.

Contact
Head of Communications
Nikolina Olsen-Rule
nor@designmuseum.dk
31 44 30 61