The Museum of New Zealand

What The Museum of New Zealand does

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (trading as Te Papa) is New Zealand's statutory national museum, constituted as a Crown entity under the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The institution in its current form opened in 1998 through the merger of the National Art Gallery and the National Museum, with origins tracing to the 1865 Colonial Museum. Headquartered at a seismically engineered waterfront building at 55 Cable Street, Wellington, with a secondary Tory Street research and digitization facility, Te Papa holds custody of more than 2 million physical objects spanning art, natural history, New Zealand histories, mātauranga Māori, and Pacific cultures. The core technology asset is the Collections Online database — a publicly accessible digital catalog of over 1 million artworks, objects, and specimens backed by a developer-facing Collections API — alongside Te Papa Huia, a digital-museum platform delivering editorial, video, and interactive content.

The business model is a hybrid public-sector / earned-revenue structure. Government appropriation is the primary funding pillar; variable revenue is generated from NZ$35 international visitor admission (free for New Zealanders, Pacific Island residents, and children under 16), guided tours starting at NZ$50, the Friends of Te Papa membership programme, venue hire including management of the Tākina Convention and Exhibition Centre, retail (Te Papa Store), café operations, corporate partnerships, and donations. Te Papa serves six distinct customer segments: NZ residents (free, primary), international visitors (paid, primary), schools and educators, researchers and academics, the broader museum sector (via National Services Te Paerangi), and corporate/event clients. It also operates the government-mandated Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme, which has returned close to 850 ancestral remains.

The institution pursues an active content and capital pipeline, with flagship exhibitions scheduled through 2026-2027, a NZ$42.9 million Budget 2022 allocation for a new natural history storage and research facility, and a digital distribution footprint spanning at least ten external platforms including Google Arts & Culture, DigitalNZ, GBIF, Artstor, Wikimedia Commons, and Unsplash. Te Papa is led by Chief Executive Courtney Johnston with Christopher Swasbrook as Board Chair and employs 251-500 staff. It is TripAdvisor's #1 attraction in Aotearoa New Zealand (2025 Travellers' Choice — Best of the Best) and reports a 98% visitor satisfaction rating.

Name

The Museum of New Zealand

Legal name

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Website

https://tepapa.govt.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) is New Zealand's Crown entity national museum in Wellington, housing 2 million+ objects across art, natural history, mātauranga Māori, and Pacific cultures, serving NZ residents (free) and international visitors (NZ$35) with exhibitions, education, repatriation, and venue services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

National Museum & Cultural Heritage Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

akta.pro primary industry

Natural History Museums (THAJADAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Indigenous & Community Cultural Institutions (THAJADAK)

Keywords

• National museum services
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Museum exhibitions
• Public education programmes
• Collection management

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Te Papa receives government funding from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and other government sources as the national museum of New Zealand.
2. International Visitor Admission: International visitors aged 16+ pay NZ$35 for museum entry, valid for 48 hours. Children under 16 enter free. This ticket supports care for over 2 million collection items.
3. Membership Program (Friends of Te Papa): The museum offers a membership programme providing benefits including invitations to exhibition previews and private viewings.
4. Guided Tours: Paid guided tours including Gallipoli tours (from $50), Art Narratives Tour, Māori Highlights Tour, and specialized tours in multiple languages.
5. Venue Hire and Events: Te Papa Venues offers light-filled, flexible event spaces for conferences, meetings, weddings, and school balls. The team also manages Tākina, Wellington's Convention and Exhibition Centre. All event revenue is reinvested into Te Papa's exhibitions, collections, and cultural work.
6. Donations and Support: The museum accepts donations and bequests from the public, with options to support through the Foundation or become patrons.
7. Retail Store and Cafe: Te Papa Store offers curated products inspired by Aotearoa's art, culture, and natural environment. The museum operates two cafes: Te Papa Cafe (Level 1) and Espresso (Level 4), with food waste donated to Kaibosh charity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Te Papa operates New Zealand's national museum at 55 Cable Street, Wellington, housing over two million objects across art, natural history, New Zealand histories, mÄtauranga MÄori, and Pacific cultures. Its core offering is free public access to permanent and touring exhibitions, complemented by a digitised Collections Online database of 1,000,000+ items, guided tours, venue hire, retail, cafes, learning programmes, repatriation services, and support to the wider museum sector via National Services Te Paerangi.

Product overview

Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand) operates as a multi-platform cultural institution combining a physical national museum in Wellington with extensive digital offerings. The core offerings include the physical museum housing over two million objects, Collections Online (database of 1,000,000+ items), and Te Papa Huia (Digital Museum). Supporting services include guided tours, educational programmes through Hīnātore Learning Lab, event venues, retail stores, cafes, the Te Papa Press publishing division, and National Services Te Paerangi supporting the wider museum sector. The Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme handles cultural heritage returns. Digital outreach extends through partnerships with platforms including Google Arts & Culture, DigitalNZ, GBIF, and Wikimedia Commons. Recent exhibitions include Slow Burn: Women and Photography and upcoming He Toi Whakairo – The Art of Māori Carving (opening August 2026).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Te Papa Museums (Physical Museum Experience) New Zealand's national museum in Wellington housing over two million objects across art, natural history, New Zealand histories, mÄtauranga MÄori, and Pacific cultures; free for NZ residents, NZ$35 for international visitors aged 16+.
• Guided Tours Expert-led tours including Gallipoli tours, MÄori Highlights Tour, Introducing Te Papa Tour, Mandarin-language tours, and Art Narratives Tour from $50 per person.
• Exhibitions (Permanent and Rotating)

Quantifiable outcome

• 2 million+ objects in the collection
• +3 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered founding partner and core.

• Wellington City Council (Me Heke ki Pōneke)founding partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerWellington City Council is listed as one of Te Papa's founding partners, supporting the national museum's operations and cultural mission.
• Manatū Taonga, Ministry for Culture and Heritagefounding partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ministry for Culture and Heritage is a founding partner of Te Papa, providing government support for the national museum.
• Earth Sciences New Zealand (GNS Science)founding partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerGNS Science (Earth Sciences New Zealand) is a founding partner, supporting research collaboration in natural sciences and earth sciences.
• Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Akefounding partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake is a founding partner, collaborating on exhibitions about natural hazards awareness such as 'Rūaumoko: Restless land' touring exhibition.
• Antarctic Heritage TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAntarctic Heritage Trust and Te Papa collaborated to offer the Scott's Discovery Hut VR Experience, allowing visitors to explore Antarctica through virtual reality technology.
• NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTe Papa and NIWA combined expertise to create the 'Mawhiti Tino Rawe | Clever Crustaceans' touring exhibition, bringing together scientists and museum expertise.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Auckland War Memorial Museum: New Zealand's other major metropolitan museum, operating a comparable multi-disciplinary collection (natural history, Māori taonga, Pacific cultures, military history) with comparable education, exhibition, and visitor services. Directly comparable as a large-scale NZ cultural institution competing for tourists and government programming support.
• Australian Museum: Sydney-based national natural history and cultural institution with comparable mandate across natural sciences, indigenous collections (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander), and cultural heritage. Closest international analogue in scope, government ownership model, and bicultural/institutional mission.
• National Museum of Australia: Australia's national museum in Canberra with a similar national-scale mandate covering Australian history, indigenous cultures, and cultural heritage. Comparable as a government-funded national museum with permanent exhibitions, touring programs, and research functions.

Regional players

• Canterbury Museum: Christchurch-based regional NZ museum with comparable natural history, Māori, and Antarctic collections (including strong Antarctic exploration exhibits). Competes for visitor attention within New Zealand and offers a comparable operational scale.
• Otago Museum: Dunedin-based NZ regional museum with natural history, Māori, and Pacific cultural collections, including a major planetarium and discovery centre. Comparable as a multi-disciplinary NZ regional museum serving both residents and tourists.
• Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science, and History: Palmerston North regional museum integrating art, science, and history, including Māori collections. Comparable as a NZ regional museum with similar mixed-discipline curatorial approach but smaller scale than Te Papa.

Broad incumbents

• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Global benchmark natural history museum with similar collection scope, research mandate, and digital outreach (including Google Arts & Culture partnerships). Much larger scale; useful for understanding upper-bound operational scope and digital distribution strategies.
• Powerhouse Museum (Sydney): Sydney-based Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences with comparable multi-disciplinary curatorial approach combining design, technology, science, and cultural collections. Comparable institution at smaller scale, focused on applied and natural sciences.
• National Gallery of Australia: Canberra-based national visual arts institution with comparable government funding model, free general admission, and supplementary programs (venue hire, retail, tours). Comparable as a neighboring national cultural institution with similar go-to-market approach, though focused on art rather than natural history.

Emerging players

• Museum of Anthropology at UBC: Canadian university museum with world-renowned Pacific Northwest indigenous collections and a curatorial philosophy centered on indigenous partnership. Highly comparable to Te Papa's bicultural model and Pacific collections focus, albeit at much smaller institutional scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@tepapa
• Facebookfacebook.com/TePapa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/museum-of-new-zealand-te-papa-tongarewa
• Instagraminstagram.com/te_papa
• TikToktiktok.com/@tepapamuseum
• Xx.com/te_papa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Museum of New Zealand