Introduction
Fascineum Experience Museums, an international group bringing together 15 museums worldwide, attracts over one million visitors each year. Specializing in immersive and entertaining experiences, the group stands out with unique themes ranging from chocolate and fries to wine and lamps. The ambition was to build a network of museums offering both cultural richness and accessibility to a diverse audience.
Challenges
One of the main challenges was managing and showcasing an exceptional range of collections spread across multiple countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Mexico. The diversity of themes – from the history of cocoa to the evolution of lighting – required tailored scenography for each location, while maintaining a strong and cohesive brand identity.
Another challenge was balancing education and entertainment: captivating a wide audience, from history enthusiasts to families, while delivering accurate, well-documented content. Additionally, the logistics of preserving and exhibiting rare, often privately-owned items demanded meticulous care both in their conservation and presentation to the public.
Solutions
Fascineum developed a tailor-made approach for each museum, combining immersive scenography with engaging historical storytelling. For example, the Choco-Story museums guide visitors through 4,000 years of cocoa history using interactive spaces, workshops, and unique collections. The Frietmuseum in Bruges, the only one of its kind in the world, tells the story of the Belgian fry in a creative and engaging way.
To ensure consistency and quality, the group implemented a centralized strategy for content management, collection preservation, and staff training, while allowing each museum the flexibility to reflect its own cultural identity.
As part of this strategy, Fascineum partnered with JAK Solutions to design and enhance the showcase websites for its museums, creating engaging digital platforms that mirror the immersive experience visitors enjoy on-site.
Impact
This approach has established Fascineum as a leader in the field of immersive thematic museums. Visitors now enjoy enriching and entertaining experiences in venues where history comes to life through interactive exhibits and carefully crafted scenography.
International attendance has grown, strengthening the group’s reputation and supporting its mission to make culture accessible to all, while preserving and showcasing exceptional collections. Today, the group’s museums are not only places of discovery but also of sharing, emotion, and wonder, helping to pass on the unique history of their objects and crafts to future generations.
