From 2016 Te Papa will be closed on Christmas day, the 25th of December.

The museum will continue to open from 10am – 6pm every other day of the year.

The museum has opted to close on Christmas day to enable staff to celebrate the day with their whanau.

In past years, Te Papa staff including hosts, café and retail staff and cleaners had been rostered on to work Christmas day.

Te Papa Chief Executive Rick Ellis said the decision was about being true to the museum’s values.

“Te Papa is a seven day a week operation, and our staff work incredibly hard through the year, including on public holidays,” Mr Ellis said.

“As an executive team we made a call that this was one day which our staff should take as a well-earned break.”

Te Papa usually receives around 2,800 visitors on Christmas Day, compared to 5,200 visitors on a typical day during the summer holiday period.

Te Papa security staff would still work on Christmas day, Mr Ellis said, but shifts would be managed to ensure they had part of the day free.

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