COVID-19's Impact on Museums in the Digital Era: Evidence from Hong Kong

Abstract

Due to restrictions on running customary exhibitions and curatorial programmes, museums—as sites of public meeting for locals—have encountered unprecedented difficulties during the coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. As a response, museums undertook equivalent emergency measures to speed the creation of the infrastructure for digital resource and service platforms. These difficulties brought up a number of possible problems, such as the usage of electronic materials and a discrepancy between visitor expectations and museum services. This study examines the problems that Hong Kong museums face in light of COVID-19, as well as the emergency procedures, intentional practises, and effects of COVID-19 on the roles and duties of Hong Kong museums from the viewpoints of museum staff and visitors. Numerous online interactions and offline upgrades were found, however visitor