NEW YORK, NY.- The Metropolitan Museum's presentation of three acclaimed and widely attended exhibitions in the summer 2008 season—J. M. W. Turner, Jeff Koons on the Roof, and Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy—generated $610 million in spending by regional, national, and foreign tourists to New York, according to a visitor survey released today by the Museum. Using the industry standard for calculating tax revenue impact, the study found that the direct tax benefit to the City and State from out-of-town visitors to the Museum totaled some $61 million.

Emily K. Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum, noted: "As this most recent survey illustrates, the Metropolitan Museum attracted record numbers of visitors this summer in large part in response to its tremendous exhibition schedule. As pleased as the institution is to have contributed to the city and state economies, it of course realizes that we now face an altogether new economic climate. Even as we launch the 138th fall season, the Museum finds itself—like every other cultural institution in New York and across the country—facing serious fiscal challenges as a result of the international financial downturn. Despite these challenges, the Museum remains committed to its mission of remaining fully accessible to the public, maintaining the highest standards in all it does, and continuing to reach out to visitors from around the globe with our message: 'Visit the Met, see the world.'"

J. M. W. Turner, on view at the Metropolitan from July 1 through September 21, 2008, attracted 259,424 visitors. Jeff Koons on the Roof, shown from April 22 through October 26, 2008, attracted 657,801 people—double the average number of Roof Garden visitors. Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, on view from May 7 through September 1, 2008, attracted 576,901 visitors.

The survey found that 74% of the visitors traveled from outside the five boroughs of New York. Thirty-four percent were international visitors, 27% were from other states, and 13% were from the Greater New York metropolitan area. Seventy-nine percent of travelers reported staying overnight in the city, and two-thirds of these visitors stayed in a hotel. The median length of stay in the city was 4.7 days.

These visitors reported spending an average of $718 on expenses for lodging, dining, sightseeing, entertainment, and local transportation, and another $426 for shopping, during their stay in New York. This year the amount cited for shopping was almost 50% higher than what visitors reported last year, which can be attributed to the high value of the euro for international visitors.

The economic development impact on the city does not directly benefit the Museum, which maintains a policy of welcoming visitors to special exhibitions without imposing extra fees. All exhibitions are free with the Museum's suggested admission.

Using a scale of 1 to 10 to determine how important the Met was in their decision to come to New York, 23% of visitors gave a rating of 8 or above with regard to the exhibitions, and 44% gave a rating of 8 or above to visiting the Met. Using just those individuals who said the exhibitions or the Museum were a highly important factor in their decision, the visitor spending estimate would be $140 million (for the exhibitions) or $269 million (for the Museum). These figures yield estimated tax benefits of $14 million and $26.9 million, respectively.

The survey of visitors to J. M. W. Turner, Jeff Koons on the Roof, and Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy is the most recent in a series of audience studies undertaken regularly by the Metropolitan to measure the economic impact of the Museum and its programs. In 2007, for example, visitors to the New Greek and Roman Galleries were found to have generated $567 million in economic impact. Earlier that year, the concurrent exhibitions Americans in Paris, 1860–1900 and Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde generated more than $377 million in economic impact. Taken together, the three surveys conducted in 2007 demonstrated an economic impact of $944 million.

The latest economic impact survey was conducted by the Museum's Visitor Services Department/Office of Market Research, with analysis provided by Karin Grafström, Market Research Manager.