Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston made the comments this week amid calls from museum and galleries for dedicated government funding for cultural institutions.
Te Papa received government funding because it was a Crown entity and the country’s national museum, she said.
It was the exception.
Other museums and galleries were the responsibility of local government.
‘‘Regional museums and galleries are enjoyable and valuable experiences for our international visitors, but their visitation is often ancillary.
‘‘Most visitors to regional museums and galleries are those who have been separately attracted to the location — for example due to its mountains, lakes or beaches — rather than the museum or gallery being the primary destination and reason for travel.’’
Tūhura Otago Museum marketing manager Charlie Buchan described those comments as ignorant and ‘‘ill-informed’’.
‘‘It’s ignorance, for me personally, just to think that she can say a blanket statement like that when we don’t just entertain the people in our communities.’’
Culture and heritage were equally important parts of New Zealand’s visitor offering and museums ‘‘deserve a seat at the tourism funding table’’.
‘‘Museums are not a side activity. They are a major part of New Zealand’s tourism offering.
‘‘When millions of visitors are choosing to visit museums every year, including around 1.5 million international visitors, it’s difficult to argue that museums are merely ancillary attractions.’’
Mr Buchan said about 400,000 people visited the museum each year.
A MartinJenkins study found about 125,000 international visitors attended the museum, contributing about $25m to Otago’s GDP.
The issue was not whether other tourism operators deserved support, but whether museums were being properly recognised as part of New Zealand’s tourism infrastructure.
‘‘When museums are attracting millions of visitors, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact and helping define New Zealand’s identity to the world, it is fair to ask why they are not more actively included in tourism funding discussions.’’
Despite living in Dunedin for three years, it was the pair’s first time visiting it.
Mr Sweeney said the museum was ‘‘quite impressive’’ and was a good rainy day activity.
‘‘It’s always busy here on school holidays, kids seem to like it.’’
He did not know if the museum could be considered a primary destination but thought it was ‘‘a bit rude’’ it was charging international visitors.
Cities with famous museums, such as the Smithsonian, were certainly primary destinations, along with Te Papa.
It was a shame when the government started talking down.
Museums were important and should be funded, Mr Sweeney said.
Ms O’Connor said the museum was probably not a primary destination; Toitu Otago Settlers Museum might be a more obvious option for visitors.
Another local visitor said he visited the museum yesterday because he had some time to kill and wanted to see certain exhibitions.
He did not visit it very often, but had gone out of his way to this time.
‘‘People who are interested in coming here will come here, whether it’s a prime destination or not.’’
A spokesperson for Ms Upston’s office declined to comment.
