The Museum of Illusions in Budapest became one of the capital’s top attractions just six months after opening. What could be the secret to its success, and how do they combine providing personal experiences with meeting digital needs? We talked about this with museum director Ingrid Jakab.
The Museum of Illusions is a Croatian franchise museum, founded in 2015 in Zagreb. It was already a huge success in its first year, so the owners started to create more museums, and now it is present in 50 major cities worldwide. We opened the Budapest location in December 2021, which houses a permanent exhibition. This is the largest illusion-themed museum in the region, about 500 square meters. Tickets can be purchased on-site or online through the Cooltix system.
The museums are generally uniform, but each one also takes the characteristics of the location into account. However, we were the first museum that insisted on creating a specifically local feature for one of the installations: in the upside-down room we recreated a ruin bar, based on the look of Púder Bárszínház.
One installation clearly stands out: the swirling tunnel. Since we are a Museum of Illusions, we create optical and other sensory illusions, and this one is what most strongly confuses and tricks the mind.
Since this is a franchise museum, we operate according to a brand book and central guidelines. However, we would like to update our exhibition from time to time and include even more Budapest-related elements. Since we have many returning guests, it is important to give them something new occasionally. We also want to attract as many people as possible, and our goal is to involve schools and physics teachers.
There is still room for growth and we want to expand, so as a first step we added a hospitality unit. Currently, the flagship location of Hübris Brewery operates in our courtyard, so the museum can also serve as a venue for events and larger gatherings with this additional service. We are also working on continuous development, for example making the current terrace suitable for use all year round.
In 2021, but even earlier, it was not a question that we had to provide an online platform for visitors to buy their tickets. This is now an expectation worldwide, and in a major city this is a basic service. We had previously worked with the Cooltix team on other projects and were very satisfied, so there was no question that we wanted to use this system.
Since I am not very talented in IT, it is a great relief for me that the interface is so easy to use. During the demo the ticketing process seemed so clear that after 10 minutes I was just blinking, thinking wow, is that really it? I was very impressed by Cooltix, and I can say without exaggeration that I am very satisfied with it.
It is important for us that we can manage the system ourselves without outside help. We also really like that we create the new events and set all the parameters ourselves, for example how many visitors can enter at different time slots. The entire interface is very easy to use and even as a “layman” I can work in it and manage it independently.
Clearly because it is consumer-friendly and consumers need it. In many places abroad you can only buy tickets online. I wouldn’t say we could fully switch to that now, but nowadays it is essential to have an online sales option. In 2022, there is no question that tickets must also be available virtually, and over time we will reach the point where we will only be able to sell tickets online. This is where the world and development are heading, so those who do not use digital ticketing opportunities will fall behind.