5Q: Trudy Coxe

 / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
/ PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

1 In January you announced keeping the Breakers, the Elms and the Marble House open in winter. Has the market changed?

One of the keys to encouraging year-round visitation to Newport is to give visitors new reasons to come. These three houses offer four tour choices, including a Servant Life Tour of the Elms. We’ve seen steady growth in the tourism economy [in the off season], and giving our guests many reasons to stay, shop and dine in Newport during the winter months is one of our most important objectives.

2 You recently announced a relaxing of the policy for visitors taking photos inside the Breakers, the Elms and the Marble House. Why?

Most museums today allow their guests to take photos. We chose to roll out this new policy during the winter when there are fewer visitors so that we can test drive it. If it goes smoothly, we anticipate expanding it to additional houses when they open in the spring. We want our guests to use their smartphones to share their visits on social media.

- Advertisement -

3 How are you interacting with the new statewide consultants for tourism?

The Preservation Society of Newport County itself pumps more than $100 million a year into Newport’s economy, so it’s great that our [state] leaders understand the importance of heritage tourism. At this point we are eagerly awaiting the introduction of the new state branding effort.

4 What is the timetable for the Breakers Welcome Center project?

There is one last step. The Rhode Island Supreme Court has appeals pending. We are hopeful that the court will hear these this spring. Our museum guests absolutely deserve amenities like bathrooms, coffee and snacks in a pretty surrounding.

5 Where is the greatest growth in visitation, and why?

Over the past year, we had a total of 950,000 admissions, putting us among the four most visited museums in New England. Visitors came from all 50 states and 30 countries, with international visitors making up about 12 percent of the total. … Visitation growth can be attributed to an aggressive move over the past five years into local and national digital marketing. We have also lengthened our operating season, keeping more houses open longer, and developed new tour opportunities, [such as] the Servant Life Tour at The Elms, and audio tours that are available in French, German, Spanish and Chinese. •

No posts to display