The attraction of visitors to museums and galleries is being viewed increasingly as a research problem, not least in the recent initiative designed to link such institutions with the other tourist attractions within a given area, 1 to gain increased sponsorship for the development of exhibition schemes, 2 and in the view that museums should be primarily 'places of entertainment'. 3 Underpinning these arguments is the implicitly held view that, by changing the perception of the nature of the resource, museums can influence the leisure patterns of potential visiting groups and thereby increase both the quantity of visiting, and the quality of the experience gained from the visit. Although the latter aspect may be approached by realigning the characteristics of the relationship between the object and the viewer, 4 the former-the attraction of visitors not only in terms of increased total numbers but also from a more representative cross-section of society-remains a problem. One avenue of research lies in examining the visitors' (and non-visitors') perception of the relationship between museums and other, similar institutions-for example historic houses, art galleries and countryside visitor centres-with the understanding that this (together with any past experience of such institutions) has a direct bearing on the choice of leisure activity: and it is primarily as a function of leisure (as non-work time) choice that museum visiting takes place. However, the data for such an examination are not readily available, mainly because museums have tended to concentrate study on visitor numbers and type rather than on comparing visitor and non-visitor perception, and the relationship between this and the expectation of visiting. This paper explores some of the more central concerns in this relationship and although it focuses primarily on countryside interpretation, it draws data from elsewhere in order to focus its conclusions directly on museums. Since this is the case, it is first necessary to examine the nature of interpretation as both a social institution and visitor attraction.Freeman Tilden, 5 in his now classic statement on the role and function of countryside interpretation, assigned to it a primarily educational role; one that would lead to a heightened awareness and appreciation of the environment, culminating in the desire to conserve the landscape-a sentiment supported by, amongst others, Brown 6 and Aldridge. 7 Although some have taken this to infer 'education' in its literal sense 8 and others have translated it into simply the effective communication of knowledge, 9 it has remained a core function since interpretation's appearance in the English landscape. However, as currently practised in Britain, a second role has tended to dominate the way interpretation has been perceived and, consequently, the way in which it is used: that of visitor management. 10 " 1 ' 2 This second perspective has arisen through the recognition by countryside planners of the potentially damaging impact of large-scale, spatially focu...
