SustainableTourism

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The International Institute for Sustainable Tourism (IIST) aims to: Improve and maintain the standards of professional competence of people involved or engaged in all aspects of sustainable tourism and in the provision of sustainable tourist services and to enhance the reputation of such persons.

This looks a useful initiative

Straddle - 422 Squadron mascot - RCAF

Straddle - 422 Squadron mascot - RCAF, a photo by Boxbrownie3 on Flickr.

Another way of spreading the word about your attraction - write a book about the squadron mascot!

In ‘Straddle, Webfoot War Dog’ - the spaniel that flew on operations John Evans of the Flying Boat Centre in Pembroke Dock has brought together the little dog’s action-packed story, covering the last 18 months of World War II, and it is illustrated with 60 photographs - from the logbook and from John’s own collection.

‘Straddle, Webfoot War Dog’ is published by Paterchurch Publications, 8 Laws Street, Pembroke Dock, SA72 6DL (Tel 01646 683041), and is available from the publishers, from local bookshops and from the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust’s two locations - the Flying Boat Centre at Fort Road, and the Fleets to Flying Boats Centre, The Terrace in the Royal Dockyard. It costs £8.95.

Dino Picnic

Dino Picnic, a photo by Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry on Flickr.

Brilliant idea for bringing visitors in to the museum - a picnic based around the Dinosaur Exhibition

Facebook

Facebook page for Attract Marketing

Having not touched Attract's Facebook for a while, now actively doing regular changes and tweaking in order to assess its worth. And we have a dedicated address www.facebook.com/Attract.Marketing.

Out Bound Tourism

Thought provoking report on UK out bound tourism and sustainability by the Travel Foundation and the Forum for the Future and posted on the website of the International Institute for Sustainable Tourism  Out Bound Tourism

Airliner in flight Sean MacEntee Creative Commons

 

St Michael's Mount and a quirky museum

St Michaels Mount, a photo by Boxbrownie3 on Flickr.

A view from Marazion in Cornwall of the National Trust property St Michaels' Mount. A must visit is Marazion Museum, completely quirky andy breaks all the current views on interpretation and museums displays. As it says on a local web site 'A very small museum run by enthusiastic volunteers. The museum houses many artefacts - around 90% of which come from Marazion - and the collections depict life in the town of last century.' - ie 10% is irrelevant!

My last vist to the Mount was in 1968! Marazion is well worth a visit and one can easily idle away a couple of hours there

Is this experiential marketing?



Howard Harrison and Tilly Morrissey, of South Pembrokeshire Hospital,

with the display panel and print of Haven Sunderland T9044.

PICTURE: Graham Roberts

 Here’s an interesting way for a visitor attraction to extend its ‘marketing reach’ and be seen to be involved in its local community – linking up with a local hospital and providing an interpretation panel. South Pembrokeshire Hospital’s Sunderland Ward, which is named after the famous flying boat, now has its own interpretation panel to mark special aviation connections.

Patient, Howard Harrison suggested the panel idea to the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust, which runs the Flying Boat Centre Workshop and the newly opened Fleets to Flying Boats Centre in the Royal Dockyard.

 

The panel, donated by the Trust, is now displayed alongside many evocative images and photographs of Sunderlands, which were based at Pembroke Dock for nearly 20 years. It includes several photographs of Sunderlands and a brief history of their special links with the town and Haven Waterway including Sunderland survivor T9044 which sank in the Haven in 1940.

Mr Harrison was on hand to formally present the new panel to Tilly Morrissey, the Resource Centre Manager, who said: “We are very grateful to Mr Harrison and to the Trust for this very special display. Mr Harrison has, along with Mr Tony Jones and other patients, donated many Sunderland items to the hospital. This panel sets the ‘Sunderland story’ in context with the ward. I am sure that patients and visitors alike will really enjoy looking at all of these items.”

Sunderland Interpretation Panel

Experiential marketing - what you are probably practising



Engaging with visitors at
The Herbert in Coventry

On the ‘marketing made simple’  web site 'Experiential marketing' is defined as ‘a cross-media promotional activity which encourages two way interaction and direct physical immersion into a brand...is a relatively young marketing discipline, but is growing rapidly because it ticks a lot of the right boxes. Compared to mass media campaigns, experiential events tend to communicate on a much more personal level, generate a deeper level of emotional engagement, result in better conversion rates, and all at relatively low cost. Experiential marketing activities can range from high profile invite only events to tasters at a local farmer's market.’
 

Well excuse me, but isn’t that what most successful visitor attractions, heritage centres, museums etc have been doing for the last 20 years or more? The web site then goes on to ask ‘Why should you chose (sic) to use experiential marketing? ‘
 

It quotes McKinsey and Co as saying  ‘TV advertising will be only a third as effective as it was in 1990 due to increasing advertising costs and dramatic reduction in viewing figures.’ – well blow me down who would have thought that with the proliferation of channels, social media etc?
 

‘Marketing made simple’ goes to say that with the fragmentation and saturation of conventional media channels traditional promotional methods have become less effective. ‘Consumers are becoming immune (surely avoiding?) advertising by fast forwarding through TV adverts… Experiential marketing by its very nature is a dialogue that consumers cannot ignore, not because they're being forced into it, but because it engages with them on a personal level.’
 

Well that reminded me of The Heritage Lottery Fund’s  definition. They describe ‘Interpretation’ as  a specialised form of communication for people visiting heritage sites. To connect with an audience it must: 

• provoke their attention;
• be pleasurable;
• be interesting and meaningful;
• be well-organised and easy to use and understand; and
• have a clear theme or idea to communicate.

Good-quality interpretation: 

• is done with a passion for its subject and aims to capture and spark the imagination of its audience
• communicates stories and ideas, not just facts and figures, is truthful and authentic, respecting the essential characteristics of the heritage resource and
• provokes its audience to think for themselves, thereby coming to their own understanding about what its subject means to them.

The resulting personal connections and meanings are the only way in which visitors’beliefs, attitudes and behaviours can be encouraged to change.  

In promoting the concept of experiential marketing  ‘marketing made simple’ quotes a 2009 survey by Jack Morton that  revealed that the majority of marketers believed "experiential marketing builds customer relationships for the long term".

They also agreed that it generates sales and leads in the short term, increases awareness of the product, drives word of mouth and can align internal audiences with business goals.

Experiential marketing can be used successfully to:

• Build relationships
• Raise awareness
• Increase loyalty
• Establish relevance
• Encourage interaction and product trial
• Create memories
• Stimulate positive word of mouth
• Change the mind of dissatisfied customers - none at the attraction we hope!
• Create product desire
• Verify the target audience
• Increase return on marketing investment

All that suspiciously sounds like what goes in visitor attractions. Experiential marketing events work best apparently when:

• People are susceptible i.e. at an exhibition or other event – a museum maybe?
• They are appealing, engaging and personal
• The event staff are well briefed – as in attractions?
• Part of an integrated marketing campaign
• Right customer groups are accurately targeted – knowing your audience!
• The product is good and easily demonstrated

Experiential marketing can be used to satisfy many marketing requirements, but the best campaigns have more tightly defined goals and include answering:

• Which customers do you want to target?
• What is the best method of interacting with these customers?
• What is the best location and environment?

Success should be measured  and no promotional activity should be put into place without some evaluation and reporting of success. Well that’s what we are always telling our clients – collect that feedback!

‘Experiential marketing is a powerful marketing tool…Ensure your events are well run, well targeted and integrated with other marketing campaigns…and you'll create brand advocates who they will further spread your brand messages through word of mouth advertising, and become a loyal customer for life...Or visitors who want to come back for more experiences perhaps?

So stand up all those attractions who are good at experiential marketing…or just very good at attracting, engaging and generating repeat visitors.

Thanks to ‘marketing-made-simple.com

Marketing is not the only answer for UK tourism

Tower of London from Tower Bridge
copyright Nick Booker

New plans announced to boost UK tourism are unlikely to have the desired effect unless much more fundamental reforms are implemented, says the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

Reacting to plans from Jeremy Hunt, the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for an £8m extension of the "GREAT" marketing campaign, and a further £2 million to promote domestic tourism, David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC said:

“Jeremy Hunt should be congratulated for recognising the huge economic and social potential of Travel and Tourism in the UK. His plans to invest in a new domestic marketing campaign to draw on the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics and to specifically target the high-spending Chinese market are sensible options. Figures from VisitBritain show that the average spend per visit of Chinese visitors to UK is £1677, compared to the average spend per visit from all countries of £563.

But, the UK is beckoning tourists with one hand and pushing them away with the other. The UK has the highest air tax of any country in the world. Heathrow and Gatwick are effectively full and there is no discernible long-term aviation policy that will provide the routes to China on the scale being provided by other European countries. UK’s visa policy which requires visitors from key growth markets, such as China and India, to go through an expensive, time-consuming and cumbersome process to obtain visas is also a clear deterrent.
Jeremy Hunt is right to want to “turbo-charge” UK tourism, but a much more fundamental reform of visa, taxation and aviation policy is required to make a real difference.”

According to WTTC figures, the Travel and Tourism industry is expected to directly contribute £35.6 billion and almost 950,000 jobs to the British economy during 2012. When the wider economic impacts of the industry are taken into account, Travel and Tourism is forecast to contribute over £100 billion to the UK economy and generate 2.3 million jobs – or 1 in 13 of all jobs in the UK.

Note

The World Travel and Tourism Council is the global authority on the economic and social contribution of Travel and Tourism. It promotes sustainable growth for the industry, working with governments and international institutions to create jobs, to drive exports and to generate prosperity.

In 2011 Travel and Tourism accounted for 255 million jobs globally. At US$6.3 trillion (9.1% of GDP) the sector is a key driver for investment and economic growth. For more than 20 years, the World Travel and Tourism Council has been the voice of this industry globally. Members are the Chairs, Presidents and Chief Executives of the world’s leading, private sector Travel and Tourism businesses. These Members bring specialist knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making, raising awareness of the importance of the industry as an economic generator of prosperity.

New museum for London

Artist's impression the new Postal Museum in London

A new visitor attraction and museum for London has taken a step forward with the announcement that The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) has received planning approval from the London Borough of Camden for its new home at Calthorpe House, near Mount Pleasant sorting office.

The new Postal Museum will provide access to the BPMA’s collections of 400 years of postal, social and design history, including photographs, posters, vehicles, pillar boxes, employment records of millions of people and a world-class stamp collection.

The BPMA will be able to exhibit objects from its museum collection, which is currently held in storage. The new state-of-the-art premises will also include educational facilities for visiting schools, digitisation facilities and a purpose built Archive repository, built to modern environmental and security standards.

New sustainability initiative by major museum & gallery

Without compromising its artistic and cultural integrity and reflecting the need for continuing sustainability, the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, one of the Midland's flagship cultural and heritage venues has launched Herbert Touring. The new initiative brings high quality exhibitions to other venues in the heritage sector, with exhibitions curated by their experienced creative team.

The Herbert prides itself on the broad range of its exhibitions programme and will bring this variety to its touring portfolio. Exhibitions are available to museums with subjects as diverse as the myths surrounding ancient Egypt, to a stark portrayal of canal culture in the 1950s, to the hottest up and coming street artists.

Herbert Touring has been launched with the support of the Arts Council and as pressure continues on museum budgets, the importance of this kind of entrepreneurial activity is likley to become of increasing importance.

See more on Herbert Touring here  

Naseby Battlefield Project

Naseby Battlefield Project, a group on Flickr.

The Naseby Battlefield Project aims to enhance visitor facilities at Naseby battlefield.

More on the Naseby Battlefield Project and Attract's role here here

Croome Court

The Red Wing at Croome

Nick Joyce Architects LLP, one of our clients has won the contract for conserving and restoring the main fabric of the Red Wing Wing at Croome the National Trust property in Worcestershire. We are working with them and the NT on the best way to explain to visitors what is going on over the course of the contract using all the interpretive techniques you can think of from boards to social media. See Croome on Facebook

‘PD’ Reunion for wartime Sunderland pilots

‘PD’ Reunion for wartime Sunderland pilots, a photo by Boxbrownie3 on Flickr.

Attract client - The Flying Boat Centre at Pembroke Dock - goes from strength to strength with growing visitor numbers of all ages, based on clever use of a small site, loyal volunteers, social media and a brilliant and committed management and admin team supported by an enthusiastic board of trustees.

Who do I trust?

Just who can I rely on for travel information?

One of the most vexing challenges for the marketers of travel services is that of addressing a fundamental dilemma in contemporary marketing practice: it has become more difficult to influence prospective customers as it has become easier to reach them, says Peter Yesawich, head of the Ypartnership. Personal recommendations have the most credibility while social media have the least, a new analysis reports.

“The question of source credibility is therefore one of great interest to marketers of travel services, particularly as it relates to the degree of influence consumers ascribe to the kaleidoscope of information now available on destinations and/or specific travel service suppliers,” Yesawich says. “And given the explosive growth in the number of sources from which consumers can now sample commentary, it’s important to understand they ascribe far greater confidence to the information they receive from some sources than others.”

This “Credibility Continuum,” as measured in the Ypartnership/Harrison Group 2010 Portrait Of American Travelers, stretches from the personal testimonials of friends and family members (the most credible) to the content found on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (the least credible).

 Source

Visitor numbers continue upwards

January inbound figures from VisitBritain show an 11% increase in both volume (2.27 million visits) and value (a spend of £1.125bn) over January 2011. Holidays and VFR trips were up compared with a year ago, and business travel was down. North America remains a weak market at the moment for inbound visits - let's hope the GREAT campaign works its magic across the Atlantic

More here at Visit Britain

Help for leisure sector companies in the West Midlands

Nick Booker of Attract Marketing has been appointed Innovation Consultant (Leisure) by the University of Wolverhampton’s Department of Leisure as part of the  Innovation 1st Project that aims to help leisure sector SMEs in the West Midlands Region explore and adopt new technologies that will have a positive impact on their business.

The scheme provides two days of fully funded business assistance for SMEs in the leisure and attractions sector, focused around the introduction of 'higher' technology including the use of social media and online reputation management.

SMEs signing up for the scheme will also benefit from a range of other services and opportunities from the University

The Innovation 1st Project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under Priority 1 - Promoting Innovation and Research & Development.

The West Midlands contains the large conurbation that includes Birmingham and Wolverhampton, but also covers the predominantly rural shire counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Nick Booker continues as a director of Attract Marketing.

Details on Innovation 1st here -

New Museum in London

Plans for a new home for The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) have been announced by the BPMA, Royal Mail Group and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The new Postal Museum will provide access to the BPMA’s unique collections of 400 years of postal, social and design history, including photographs, posters, vehicles, pillar boxes, employment records of millions of people and a world-class stamp collection.

Under a plan endorsed by the Government, the new centre will be established at Calthorpe House, on London’s Mount Pleasant site, where the country’s oldest mail centre is located. It is close to the existing home of the BPMA at Freeling House, which has very limited space for exhibitions and displays.

Royal Mail Group will grant a lease of 999 years for Calthorpe House, a property which will provide a secure foundation for the BPMA once redeveloped and extended. Agreements have been signed with Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd for a £6m long term, low interest loan to fund the conversion of Calthorpe House to meet the basic needs of the organisation. In addition, Royal Mail and POL are providing other support, including a £500,000 grant.

A fundraising campaign by the BPMA will be launched shortly to raise the remaining funds required to create a state of the art museum and visitor facility. The BPMA is an independent charity set up in 2004 to care for two significant collections: The Royal Mail Archive and the collections of the former National Postal Museum. It is the BPMA’s mission to increase public access to these collections, making the story they tell of communication, industry and innovation accessible to everyone.

The new centre will allow the BPMA to exhibit objects from its fascinating museum collection, which is currently held in storage. It will also include educational facilities for visiting schools.

Donald Brydon, Royal Mail Group’s Chairman said:  “These plans will give our postal heritage a world-class home. The history of Royal Mail is a key part of the history of postal services worldwide. I am delighted, therefore, the Group’s Board has agreed to support the BPMA’s ambitious plan to provide a new, permanent home for its unique collection of postal artefacts, stamps and equipment, as well as allowing greater access to the archive”

Dr Adrian Steel, Director of the BPMA, said:  “We are aiming to create a state-of-the-art, sustainable home for a unique part of our national heritage. The new centre will showcase the UK’s pioneering role in developing postal communications, which has shaped the world we live in.”

Norman Lamb, Postal Affairs Minister, said: "This exciting new home for the British Postal Museum and Archive is a great initiative, to which I hope people will lend their support. Celebrating the history of Royal Mail in this way will bring to life a key part of our nation's cultural heritage. The many and varied items in the archives will show how Royal Mail has been at the heart of British life for centuries, and it is great news that the museum will contain an educational facility to allow young people to engage with the history of our postal services in an innovative way."

Marketing independent historic houses

Invitation to View is a great opportunity for private houses and gardens wanting to open to the public. They have been opening houses and gardens to the public since 1998 and every year since has been a record for both houses open and visitors says their web site. In 2012, 58 private properties will open their doors to visitors in Eastern England (10 new) covering six counties with Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire joining the scheme for the first time. However, ItV has now broken out of the East to start the same scheme in the West Country, with 18 houses opening under the same organisation in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. For more information see the Invitation to View web site

Leisure Opportunities - Budget 2012 'a missed opportunity' for UK hospitality/tourism, says British Hospitality Association

Leisure Opportunities - Budget 2012 'a missed opportunity' for UK hospitality/tourism, says British Hospitality Association

The Tourism Alliance has also published some notes on the 2012 Budget highlighting a number of key issues:

• The reform of taxation on Gaming Machines
• An acknowledgement (read “u-turn”) that there needs to be aviation expansion in the South East.
• VAT being applied to alterations to Listed Buildings and Static Holiday Caravans

The Budget initiatives with Tourism Implications include:

Corporation Tax

• From April 2013 the Government will introduce a new cash basis for calculating tax for small unincorporated businesses. The Government will consult shortly after Budget on the details of the scheme including on extending eligibility to businesses with turnover up to the VAT registration threshold of £77,000.
• Corporation Tax to be cut a further 1% in April to 24% (from 26% currently). The plan is to reduce it to 23% in 2013 and 22% by 2014

Gambling

• New duty of Gaming Machines with a standard rate of 20% and a lower rate for low-prize machines of 5% of net takings.
• The Government will move to a tax regime that ensures operators anywhere in the world pay gambling duties on gross profits generated from customers based in the UK.

VAT

• From 1 October 2012, VAT will be extended to reduce anomalies, including alterations to listed buildings (to align with the existing VAT treatment of repairs).
• The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will extend its ‘listed places of worship’ grant scheme in light of the changes to VAT on alterations to listed buildings.
• From 1 October 2012, VAT will be extended to close loopholes, including by applying static holiday caravans (to bring in line with mobile caravans).From 1 April 2012 the VAT registration threshold will be increased from £73,000 to £77,000 and the deregistration threshold from £71,000 to £75,000

Aviation

• Acknowledgement that the UK needs to increase aviation capacity, especially in the South East
• APD rates for 2013-14 will rise by the RPI from 1 April 2013

Transport

• Extend electrification of the Transpennine route between Manchester and Sheffield. Further improvements to the lines between Manchester and Preston, and Manchester and Blackpool.
• Implementation of many of Alan Cook’s recommendations for the roads, including developing a national roads strategy and setting a renewed focus on the level of performance expected from the Highways Agency.26 The Government will also consider whether to go further and will carry out a feasibility study into new ownership and financing models for the national road network, learning lessons from the water industry, to report on progress by Autumn Statement 2012

Technology

• Mobile coverage to 60,000 rural homes and along at least ten key roads by 2015
• Consideration of whether direct intervention is required to improve mobile coverage for rail passengers.

Planning

• Government will publish the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) by the end of March 2012, with it coming into force for plan-making and decisions from that point onwards
• The NPPF will refocus planning policy to better support growth, will include a powerful presumption in favour of sustainable development to underpin all local plans and decisions, and will localise choice about the use of previously developed land, ending nationally imposed targets.
• The Government will shortly consult on proposals to amend the Use Class Order and the associated permitted development rights to make changing the use of buildings easier, for implementation by April 2013.
• Government will reduce unnecessary cost and delay to developers by: setting up a Major Infrastructure and Environment Unit; streamlining guidance; setting clearer standards for evidence; and changing the culture of statutory bodies.

Deregulation

• 84 per cent of health and safety regulation will be scrapped or improved, including legislating in 2012 so that ‘strict liability’ provisions in health and safety law will no longer hold employers to be in breach of their duties when they have done everything that is reasonably practicable and foreseeable to protect their employees
• Sector-based reviews of regulation will be launched from April 2012 to ensure regulation is enforced at the lowest possible cost to business, starting with chemicals manufacturing, volunteer events and small businesses in food manufacturing.

Job Opportunity - Campaign Director

The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is looking for someone who can establish and implement their capital fundraising campaign for a new museum, archive and visitor centre in a building donated by Royal Mail in Mount Pleasant, London.  The total project cost is £12 -£15 million but with some funding already in place only a proportion of this will need to be fundraised this project

Founded in 2004, the BPMA is an independent registered charity which cares for the archive and museum collections of Royal Mail. It’s Designated Public Record Archive and Museum Collections range from sheets of Penny Blacks, posters and 1930s films, to mobile post offices, pillar boxes and telegrams from the Titanic.

The BPMA is looking for a Campaign Director who can establish and implement the capital fundraising campaign for the project. While some work, such as the establishment of a fundraising board, has already begun, the campaign Director will refine the campaign strategy and implement the major donor fundraising, from individuals, trusts and foundations and corporates.

The BPMA’s Head of Development and Communications, who is responsible for revenue fundraising, is on maternity leave from January 2012 for up to one year.  During this period the Campaign Director will take on certain revenue fundraising and line management responsibilities in addition to the capital fundraising task.

More details at http://postalheritage.org.uk/page/jobs

Closing date - Tuesday 10 April 2012 at 9am

Hotels with good web sites win

Hotels which fail to spend time and money on their websites face a drop in bookings and profitability, says Christina Eccles in the latest edition of Destination News UK.  According to a new study by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, customers expect a host of features on hotel websites, even when looking at small properties.

The researchers specifically studied hotels in Sri Lanka, which aim to attract western business travellers, but say their findings apply broadly across the sector. Dr Alice Good of the University said: “Hotels that rely upon web bookings are undoubtedly going to face a drop in bookings if they fail to keep pace with website design and the importance of it to customers.

“…poor web design impacts upon both usability and accessibility in relation to e-commerce websites, with numerous examples of companies going out of business because of poor website design. A website is the interface – the shop window – between businesses and their customers and a poor user experience will reduce the chance of a customer committing to a business transaction.

“A poorly designed website will also reduce the chances of a customer returning to the website and increase the chance that they will tell others – often through social media – very quickly about a poor experience.”

According to the study, the four key elements of good hotel website design are:

• Website usability, including using ‘accessible’ typefaces, easy and intuitive navigation and key information (which) can be found within three clicks of the mouse.
• Providing a good user experience  -  it should be visually pleasing and encourage users to return
• Trustworthiness -  the website is safe and secure and ‘feels’ safe to customers
• Ensuring that reservations can be made online and there is an email system to facilitate customer queries

Researcher Arunasalam Sambhanthan added: “Hotels, like any other business, should be prepared to spend a significant proportion of their budget on the security of their website. To far too many companies, security is an afterthought, but the issue of trustworthiness and customers’ perception of a safe site impact heavily upon e-commerce.

“People quickly form impressions of web security and a website that engenders a feeling of trust will inspire customers to be more confident about booking and paying online.”

So sound simple stuff that applies not only to hotels but anyone operating in the tourism and leisure sector, particularly with a web site that takes bookings or sells products and services.

Destination News UK is here

Getting them to spend more and stay longer

Improving visitor ratings of what there is to see, and especially of what there is to do, can lead to increased dwell time and increased secondary spend says Alan Love, Research Director, BDRC in the latest edition of Attractions Management. He’s posed the question  - ‘How can attraction operators encourage visitors to spend limited budgets at their attraction?’ And then provides some advice. Tweaking the offer can not only increase dwell times and increased secondary spend but can also lead to increased recommendation rates on say Trip Advisor, which may lead to increased volume, making marketing budgets stretch just that little bit further. Love bases his conclusions on some analysis he has done on the 30 metrics in the ALVA Quality Benchmark Survey.

Love’s review shows that even in straitened times, battening down the hatches on investment might not be the right solution.  By improving the visitor experience through enhancing what there is to do or to see at the attraction can lead to improved ratings and increased spend. As we say to our Attract Marketing clients 'you have spent a fortune getting people here for heaven’s sake make sure they stay as long as possible so they use the café and spend in the shop!'

See more at Time is Money

Attractions Management - Domestic tourism boost for UK attractions

Attractions Management - Domestic tourism boost for UK attractions

A number of UK attractions recorded increases in visitor numbers during 2011, according to figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).

Herbert Virtual Tour | The Herbert

Herbert Virtual Tour The Herbert

Have a look round The Herbert Art Galley and Museum in Coventry for interesting spaces to hire and use

William MacNamara and the Flying Boat

William MacNamara and Flying Boat, a photo by Boxbrownie3 on Flickr.

Supporting a client!

Why the Dickens are they closing this museum now? | News

Why the Dickens are they closing this museum now? News

Olympics Park Project for Attract

Olympics Park

Attract recently delivered a market assessment and business, marketing strategy and operating plan for a post Games project on the Olympics Park for Ecovert FM, UK industry leader in Total Facilities Management. The project included validation and assessment of the potential market, revenue and cost forecasts for catering, retail, access, licensing, operations, ticketing and cash handling.

Attract was assisted on this project by Richard Pawley (VTP Global), Mary Tebje (MTA Tourism Leisure), Jane Dean (Jane Dean Associates) and Lisa Hatswell (Lisa Hatswell Consultancy/Unique Venues of London) Andrew Potts (Wright Hassall), John Davies (Omniticket).

Attract client walks to the South Pole

William McNamara OBE

Walking to the Southpole - William McNamara OBE is used to a challenge, in fact he’s become quite adept at them with his role as CEO of Bluestone and chairman of the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust/Flying Boat Centre, one of Attract's clients, yet he’s sure to face his biggest challenge to date as he undertakes the ultimate adventure – an expedition to the South Pole. William has been fascinated by Antarctica for many years. It is a continent of superlatives, the largest, the highest, the coldest, the driest on the planet. The aim of the walk is to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The aim is to forge an ongoing relationship with Teenage Cancer Trust so that Bluestone can provide quality, fun, short break experiences for families of cancer sufferers and maybe national events bringing many similarly effected families together. Bluestone is a significant new business within the National Park, Pembrokeshire and indeed Wales. It has impressive social economic and environmental credentials which are entirely appropriate in this day and age. As William says "It has indeed been a great privilege but also a significant responsibility to be given the sanction to build and operate such a business in beautiful countryside in a stunning part of West Wales. Thus compassion, benevolence and creative partnerships to make a real difference within our communities are entirely appropriate whilst maintaining strong financial objectives."

More on William McNamara's walk to the South Pole and his fundraising efforts here http://www.90degreessouth.co.uk/