2018: The year in which the queues vanished, visitor ratings further improved and our online fan base grew exponentially. A year packed with highlights, such as the blockbuster exhibition 'Van Gogh & Japan' and the renewed focus on Van Gogh’s captivating letters.
Annual Report 2018
Summary
We can reflect on another magnificent, successful year. In 2018, the Van Gogh Museum welcomed 2,165,000 visitors. The majority of these visitors were Dutch. The percentage of visitors aged under 18 increased.
Promoting the sale of online tickets with a start time helped us to ensure the best possible distribution of visitors throughout the day; 2018 was the year in which the infamous queues outside the museum became a thing of the past. This resulted in a notable increase in visitor satisfaction; the Net Promoter Score rose from 58 in 2017 to 63 in 2018.
Van Gogh & Japan
Japan was the focus of the first half of 2018. The unique exhibition Van Gogh & Japan, which featured loans from all around the world, offered an in-depth exploration of Vincent van Gogh’s fascination with a country that he never actually visited, but that he knew from his collection of prints. A detailed description of this collection and its history was presented both in a publication and on the museum website. Providing digital access to the collection of Japanese prints means that a new part of Van Gogh’s legacy is now accessible to a global audience.
Van Gogh Highlights – The Letters
2018 saw a renewed focus on Van Gogh’s letters, including in the Van Gogh Highlights – The Letters campaign. Visitors can browse through a selection of the best letters on the website and listen to them in a podcast series. Such activities mean that, in addition to the local and global dimension, a digital dimension is increasingly being added to Van Gogh’s legacy – a dimension that will be further enhanced in the years ahead.
The exponential growth in our social media fan base is proof of the progress being made in the digital sphere. The Van Gogh Museum has the most involved Facebook and Instagram followers in the international museum world.