Paid guides as an innovative opportunity

Museums are treasure troves of our cultural heritage. They allow us to immerse ourselves in history, science and research in a vivid and varied way. However, their operation is cost-intensive and presents many institutions with financial challenges. In Germany, up to 90 % of operating costs are funded by the state, but they are still often dependent on admission fees, donations and foundations.
In order to survive in the long term, creative ways of generating additional income are therefore needed. One particularly user-friendly and modern solution: paid guides with audio cult.

The financial burdens of a museum are manifold. An overview:

• Exhibitions: Planning, design and operation of permanent and temporary exhibitions, transportation, loan fees, technical equipment, educational materials
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• Conservation and restoration: preservation and care of the collections, climate control, safety precautions, special storage technology.
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• Science and research: cataloging and researching the collections, scientific staff, databases, research projects, publications.
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• Education and mediation: guided tours, workshops, teaching materials, digital mediation offers.
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• Operations and services: Staff salaries, energy and cleaning costs, marketing, IT, security.
  

In addition to public subsidies and entrance fees, donations, sponsorship and store income are established financing components. However, financing remains a major challenge, especially for smaller museums, which are often run by volunteers. This is why additional, sustainable sources of income are a decisive factor in securing the future of museums.

Many museums have been offering traditional audio guides for a fee for a long time. But until now, this often meant expensive rental equipment, high maintenance costs, lengthy projects or costly app downloads. Audio-Cult revolutionizes this approach. The web-based solution makes access to the audio guide as easy as possible:

• No device for lending
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• No app download
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• simply scan the QR code and listen directly in your browser

The idea is as simple as it is effective:
visitors pay for the guide at the cash desk and receive a QR code. One scan is all it takes - and the tour starts immediately in the web browser. Thanks to an innovative protection technology, the link cannot simply be shared with others - which effectively prevents misuse. This opens up attractive advantages for museums:

• Additional income: without large investments and with low entry costs
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• Flexible management: content can be updated or expanded at any time
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• Inclusion: Multilingualism and accessibility easily achievable
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The Galleria Colonna in Rome is already using the Audio-Cult paid guide. On the one hand, this makes the experience more exciting and educational for guests, and on the other hand, the museum can generate additional income.

With paid guides from Audio-Cult, museums of all sizes can not only improve their educational offerings, but also tap into new, reliable sources of income. This makes cultural education not only simpler and more modern - but also more economically sustainable.