The undervalued power of museum-guided tours: a case study of Xuhui Art Museum in China

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, how to attract back visitors has been a major problem for museums across the world. Among diverse museum activities, human-guided tours remain under-studied to date. A post-hoc case analysis on Xuhui Art Museum provided empirical evidence demonstrating the potential power of guided tours. Quantitative methods in content analysis and semantic network analysis were employed to identify general features of visitor comments from both visitor books and social media. An in-depth interview was also conducted with the Chief Curator. Results reveal that the work of 'jiangjie', or tour guiding, is greatly appreciated and plays a vital role in improving visitor experience and satisfaction. This study calls for re-evaluation of the functions, potential and effects of tour guiding, and a renewal of live tours for better on-site experience in a post COVID-19 period.