AN ANALYSIS OF ADOPTING DUAL PRICING FOR MUSEUMS: THE CASE OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRAN

• Foreign and domestic visitors differ substantially in their characteristics and behaviour.
• Foreign visitors are willing to pay substantially higher entrance fees than domestic visitors.
• Attitude, involvement, income and education are positively related to visitors’ willingness-to-pay.

The article analyzes the admission fees that foreign and domestic tourists are willing to pay, respectively, for the National Museum of Iran, and examines the relationship between the tourists’ willingness-to-pay and their various socio-economic, geographical, and psychological characteristics. It was established that the two segments of tourists differ substantially, both in their characteristics and in their behavior. Unlike for domestic tourists, the entrance fees that foreign tourists are willing to pay are substantially higher than the current single entrance fee, while higher entrance fees would not decrease the consumer surplus significantly. The findings, if applied with caution, could provide museum managers with the rationale for adopting dual pricing and with practical directions for setting such schemes.