Exploring interactive elements of presentation and experience during Corona Virus pandemic in Stavanger museums

Same as other sections in the tourism industry, museums and heritages sites have been experiencing troublesome times caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The current thesis calls into exploring the interactive elements of experience and presentation factors in Stavanger museums since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in Norway. By clarifying the situations in different museums, new insights and knowledge are provided for managers to consider them in similar circumstances in the future. Unfortunately, few researchers have addressed the museums during the Covid-19 pandemic in Norway and especially Stavanger. To advance our understanding, interview as a qualitative research method was selected, which provide profound knowledge about the topic. Informants were Stavanger museums’ managers, curators and educators. The findings from the research illustrate the main restrictions such as face masks, one-meter distance and using sanitizer, and their negative impact on co-creation and engagement of the visitors. In addition, the lack of on-site attributes negatively influenced immersion and co-creation. Therefore, museums’ creative strategies follow these challenges in engaging visitors. Moreover, it was noted that due to the closure of the border, people's motives mainly shifted from education to relaxation and escapism. Besides, the pandemic shock was an eye-opening time for Stavanger museums regarding their weaknesses in digitalization. By considering different literature and studies, based on the finding, practical implications are provided for managers. For example, one comprehensive solution to many challenges and difficulties in engaging people during the pandemic is applying more digitalization. In addition, it is highly recommended to study people’s motivations and expectations from museums during this time, which provides beneficial information for the managers to embed in their management and marketing strategie