ABSTRACT
The quantitative data analysed in this section reveals, amongst other things, that during 2020, visitor numbers to the literary heritage sites surveyed dropped by an average of 84.3%; in the same year, social distancing measures resulted in a reduction of visitor capacity that averaged 68.1%. The relationship between these figures is not straightforward and may be related to the different public health regimes of the different nations and regions of the UK. The chapter also counts the financial cost of Covid-19, quantifying both costs incurred and lost income streams resulting from Covid-19. It finds that new income streams during this time (e.g. through digital activity) were extremely limited in scale. Additionally, the chapter details job losses in the literary heritage sites studied. Looking at the data as a whole, the study found that both the most-visited and the least-visited museums experienced the worst difficulties. Mid-sized visitor numbers appeared to be linked to both financial stability and job security. Possible reasons for this are discussed, and the chapter considers whether there might be a case for questioning the emphasis on high visitor numbers in the literary heritage sector.
