A long-term partnership delivering meaningful visitor insight
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth welcomes around 80,000 visitors each year. For the past eight years, they’ve relied on Get Smart to capture visitor feedback and measure the impact of their gallery exhibitions.
A tailored solution for cultural attractions
The team originally adopted Get Smart through a programme designed for museums, galleries and cultural attractions, developed in collaboration with a Ministry for Culture and Heritage working group. The questions developed during this process have stood the test of time, providing the insight they need without the complexity of bespoke systems.
“Despite reviewing our systems several times over the years, Get Smart has always made the cut for reinvestment,” says Antony Rhodes, Community Engagement and Development Lead – Cultural Experiences, at New Plymouth District Council. “It’s the value of the trend analysis, time series and benchmarking that keeps it relevant.”
Reliable data, meaningful insight
Feedback is collected primarily through in-person intercept surveys close to the exit point, which capture authentic reflections while the experience is fresh. The gallery also offers passive QR Code and self-directed surveys. This mix of in-person intercept and self-directed surveys, enables them to regularly and consistently gather information and provides reliable insights from all of their visitor profiles.
These insights give the team a real-time pulse on visitor sentiment and exhibition reception. They’re able to compare visitor satisfaction between exhibitions, track the impact of curatorial and operational decisions and report key metrics such as visitor satisfaction and demographics to stakeholders including exhibitors, sponsors and council partners.
Speaking the language of trade
Consistently strong Net Promoter Scores (NPS) from our independent visitor experience survey have become a valuable asset beyond internal reporting. “NPS is a language the tourism trade understands,” says Antony. “When we’re at trade fairs or tourism industry events, being able to demonstrate strong NPS results helps position us with credibility.”
Antony is an advocate for sector-specific solutions and shared resources:
“I’d recommend Get Smart to other galleries looking for a visitor engagement solution that’s built for our sector. Pooling resources reduces complexity and spreads the cost across organisations with a similar purpose, it just makes sense.”
Antony Rhodes
Community Engagement and Development Lead – Cultural Experiences – New Plymouth District Council
