A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

The year 2022 was an excellent year for the Museum! Throughout this report you will see in the vast majority of areas that numbers are in the right direction from visitation and new membership sales to dock reservations, volunteer hours, and visitation revenue.

Some of this success is the inevitable pandemic “snap-back,” people seeking to get out of the house to do something different. But it is also a sign that the Museum as an institution is bouncing back as a result of Museum-wide initiatives, some self-funded and often supported by federal and state grants, but all wisely thought through and resulting in revitalized output that can be seen across all areas of the Museum. These changes in fortune do not happen by accident but are a combination of good strategy, good management, and, most importantly, good people.

Throughout 2021 and 2022, the Museum pursued a policy of rebuilding both its physical assets and its people, and we are now beginning to see the benefits of this strategy. Every good company may use the cliché that its people are its greatest asset, but we are in the people business, so this is actually true. At Mystic Seaport Museum everyone is frontline staff. While the new CCA (Cruising Club of America) floating docks have generated extra visits, that is not just due to the physical changes, but also the exceptional service our staff, trustees, donors and volunteers provide.

You are the ones that brought the Museum back after the pandemic, helped the Museum retain its enviable reputation, and got results. In 2022, our guests gave 4.5 out of 5 stars based on over 3,400 written reviews on Tripadvisor, earning the Museum the TripAdvisor 2022 Traveler’s Choice Award.

Of course, we will continue to be focused on the data, research, and reporting, and always keep one eye on understanding what success looks like—what has worked and what hasn’t—but, listening to our customers, there is a new sense of experimentation of trying things out.

For myself, 2022 means having an impact on our community. We have added a job seekers component to our work with The Light House group, which serves the needs of individuals with disabilities throughout Eastern Connecticut and Southern Rhode Island, expanded our paid internship program, signed off our DEAI strategy, and now offer free entry for EBT/SNAP participants.

I look forward to an exciting future bound only by our imagination.