In a win for history-loving locals and visitors, the Cooktown Museum will now be opened five days a week after the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) had originally slashed operations to just three days – but it says the change is only for the tourist season. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
The Cooktown Museum is now operating five days a week during the dry season, but the organisation responsible for its management says opening hours will again be slashed once tourists finish their annual Cape York pilgrimage.
The museum is run by the National Trust of Australian (Queensland), and had only been open from 10:30am-2:30pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in a move that has been slammed by Cook Shire Council, the Cooktown Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, and local business operators.
While the Trust said earlier this month it had no intention of permanently reinstating extended operations for the museum, in a 7 July email seen by Cape York Weekly, the new “extended” opening hours are advised as 10:30am-2:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The museum will be closed on Wednesday and Sunday.
Trust chief executive officer Jayme Cuttriss said the museum would continue to be run on a seasonal opening model and blamed low early tourist numbers for the delayed recommencement of five-day operations.
“From June, we launched the high season trading model, as we do annually,” she said.
“We have a seasonal operating model; ordinarily, we would be in low season until Easter, then shoulder season until June; this year, due to very low visitor numbers, we extended the low season model until June before switching to the high season pattern.
“While visitation is higher now, it remains lower than anticipated, and with rising operational costs and no external government funding, we must manage our resources responsibly.
“The museum is staffed by employees, rather than volunteers, which also affects coverage.”
On 2 July, the Trust said in a statement the reduction to four hours, three days per week was “informed by on-the-ground insights, attendance data, and operational performance trends, and followed discussions that have already been held with Cook Shire Council and the Cooktown Chamber of Commerce”.
However, the council disputed the claim and said it had not been consulted on the change.
Mayor Robyn Holmes said the additional opening hours would benefit the Cooktown region.
“I think it’s really important that the hours were reinstated, especially at the onset of the tourist season, because it seems to be looking really positive from that angle,” she said.
Ms Cuttriss said the Trust was hoping to boost volunteer numbers at the museum and gave an undertaking to better consult Cooktown stakeholders on future operational changes.
“We value Cooktown Museum’s role in telling the diverse stories of the region and acknowledge the benefit of keeping stakeholders informed,” she said.
“Although consultation has not historically occurred regarding operational changes, we agree this is something we can work on to improve.”
