As reflected in the Art Institute of Chicago’s (AIC) distinguished Asian art collection, which includes objects spanning nearly five millennia from China, the museum is deeply committed to captivating the Chinese audience. Besides working closely with civic partners like Choose Chicago to ensure that their message reaches the local community and Chinese visitors to Chicago, the AIC offers a variety of visitor engagement tools including Chinese-language visitor, pocket, and audio guides and tours; plus, JourneyMaker — a digital tool that allows families to create their own kid-friendly museum tour — is available in Mandarin. The institute also hosts an annual Chinese New Year Celebration, serves Asian dishes at their café, and has established a Weibo and WeChat presence. In turn, Chinese visitor attendance has increased to 13 percent in 2018 from 5 percent in 2013 and is projected to grow by 13 percent annually through 2020. Chinese visitor engagement is also increasing with Chinese audio guide sales up by 7 percent and Chinese pocket guide sales up by 10 percent versus last year. Not to mention, the Mandarin audio guide is the second most popular after English, and the Mandarin language audio tour on the Mobile App is the most popular foreign language tour.
The Art Institute of Chicago Bets Big on Chinese Visitors
The Art Institute of Chicago has launched initiatives, such as Mandarin audio guides and Chinese social media accounts, to draw in more Chinese tourists. Courtesy Photo
