An exploration of the use of marketing public relations at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract

Cultural tourism is one of the growth areas of the tourism industry globally. Cultural tourism refers to visits motivated by cultural offerings. Cultural offerings include museums, castles, cultural landscapes and historical sites. The Apartheid Museum is a non-profit organisation, which relies on generosity of government, private organisations and sales of gate tickets. It thus relies on building and sustaining a long-term mutual relationship with its visitors to earn their loyalty and support. Marketing public relations is a concept, which has been explored in commercial contexts by numerous studies. However, there is still limited literature on the adoption and the use of marketing public relations in the context of a non-profit organisation such as a museum. The aim of this study was to explore the use of marketing public relations at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. In order to explore the use of marketing public relations at the museum, a survey involving 384 visitors and in-depth interviews with six marketing staff members were conducted. The data from the questionnaire were analysed using the SPSS software. The data collected from the in-depth interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that the museum does not deploy marketing public relations tools in an integrated manner. Its significance resides in that it provides marketing public relation guidelines to organisations like the Apartheid Museum for purposes of building long term and meaningful relations with their customer stakeholders.

Kulturele toerisme neem wêreldwyd snel toe. Kuturele toerisme verwys na “besoeke gemotiveer deur kulturele aanbiedings”. Dit sluit besoeke aan museums, kastele, kulturele landskappe en historiese terreine in. Die Apartheid-museum is ’n organisasie sonder winsbejag wat op die vrygewendheid van die regering en private instansies asook kaartjieverkope by die toegangshek staatmaak. Dit reken dus op die aanknoop en instandhouding van langtermynverhoudings met sy besoekers om hulle lojaliteit en ondersteuning te verseker. Openbare betrekkinge-bemarking is ’n konsep wat in kommersiële konteks deur verskeie studies ondersoek is. Daar is egter nog min literatuur oor die aanvaarding en gebruikmaking hiervan in die konteks van ’n organisasie sonder winsbejag soos ’n museum beskikbaar. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die gebruike van openbare betrekkinge-bemarking by die Apartheidsmuseum in Johannesburg, Suid-Afrika te ondersoek. Om hierdie doel te bereik is ’n vraelys deur 384 besoekers voltooi en indiepte onderhoude met ses skakelbeamptes op die personeel gevoer. Die data van die vraelys is met behulp van SPSS-sagteware deur die gebruik van tematiese analise geëvalueer. Hierdie studie het getoon dat die museum nie op ’n geïntegreerde manier die bemarkingsgeleenthede vir openbare betrekkinge benut nie. Die belangrikheid van hierdie studie is geleë in die feit dat dit riglyne aan organisasies soos die Apartheidsmuseum voorsien met die doel om langtermyn- en betekenisvolle verhoudings met hulle kliëntedeelhebbers op te bou.