ASVA Conference 2025 Programme

Join us for an engaging start to the day as registration opens and the trade exhibition kicks off. Enjoy a selection of teas and coffees while you network with fellow attendees and explore the exhibition. This is the perfect opportunity to connect, exchange ideas, and get a head start on the day’s events.

We look forward to welcoming you and setting the stage for an inspiring conference ahead!

Nature, Beauty and Heritage for Everyone

Philip Long OBE FRSE, Chief Executive, The National Trust for Scotland

In 2022, the National Trust for Scotland launched its new ten-year strategy, Nature, Beauty and Heritage for Everyone. Three years on, and as the Trust begins to plan for its centenary in 2031, Philip Long describes the charity’s developing ambitions and the challenges it faces in caring for 110 visited heritage sites across all of Scotland, which in 2024/25 received a record 5.6m visits.

Delivering Joy

Helen Smout, Chief Executive, Culture Perth and Kinross (Perth Museum and Perth Art Gallery)

Helen will talk about the work to open a new 5 star visitor attraction; how the customer journey is considered and why the focus is on delivering joy not perfection. She will discuss the challenges, frustrations and rewards of the organisational change required to respond to visitor expectations whilst balancing stakeholder and community needs, decreasing funding and security alerts!

Creating the Perfect Blend

Angela Dineen, Operations Director, The Scotch Whisky Experience

The Mastery of The Macallan: Guest Experience & Satisfaction

Gillian Swan, Experience Manager, The Macallan Estate

The Scotch Whisky Experience ended 2024 winning a hat-trick of awards, including Best Visitor Attraction at the Scottish Thistle Awards, Tourism Destination of the Year at the Scottish Whisky Awards and Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Icons of Whisky Awards. Angela will share how the team have not been resting on their laurels in 2025 and how they continue to craft their world-class experience.

Gillian will share key insights into how The Macallan cultivates strong satisfaction among guests.
She will also reflect on the first year of TimeSpirit, The Macallan’s new dining restaurant, and how this has impacted on the guest journey.
The Macallan Estate operates as an appointments-only venue and this session will offer key learns around the impact of this strategic approach.

Realising the Potential of Scottish Tourism’s Birthplace in Responsible and Inclusive Ways

James Fraser,
CEO & Lead Trustee, The Steamship Sir Walter Scott at Loch Katrine

National Museum – Local Impact

Claire Eva, Director of Audiences & Media, V&A Dundee
Julie Muir, Learning Manager, V&A Dundee

James will provide practical insights to how a visitor attraction can adapt and be more sustainable by capitalising on heritage assets in creative and responsible ways that appeal to a wide range of changing markets. This follows a period of significant investment post Covid19, including the opening of a new scenic tower and the restoration and celebration of 125 year old Steamship Sir Walter Scott.

Discover how V&A Dundee is shaping local lives through design, especially by inspiring and empowering the city’s younger generations. Scotland’s design museum has welcomed over 2.5 million visitors since opening in 2018, contributing to a 78% rise in annual tourism to Dundee since 2014. This session explores how a national museum rooted in Dundee is driving opportunity, pride, and long-term impact for the city and its people.

“You’re Speaking My Language”
Creating Community, Language Translations at The Burrell Collection

Laura Bauld, Senior Curator, & Michael Mackinnon, Digital Content Producer, Glasgow Life Museums – The Burrell Collection

Panel: Tourism for Everyone
Jillian Schofield, Service Manager for Culture, Events & Tourism, Stirling Council. ASVA board member.
Kathryn Adam, General Manager, Merlin Entertainments.
Andrew Johnson, Managing Director of Visitor Centres Ltd.

The Burrell Collection prides itself in making the museum accessible to diverse communities. This session explores their successful project to create translations of in-venue content in 10 local community languages. It will offer practical insights in selecting languages reflective of our audiences and schools, procuring high-quality professional translations including British Sign Language and Gaelic, and evaluating the impact of these translations in-gallery and online.

Join Jillian as she shares insights with industry leaders and Thistle Award winners Kathyn and Andrew on a discussion on the most important asset in the sector – people! Pick up strategies and tips you can put into practice in your own attraction around creating an accessible, inspiring and supportive work environment. Find out how to encourage your staff and visitors to be innovative and how to engage with your community. You’ll leave with practical ideas to attract and retain staff within your attraction by being inclusive. After all, if you “take care of your team, they’ll take care of your customers”.

Join us to celebrate the exceptional individuals who make our attractions world-class.

Hosted by: Alex Harvie, Head of City Marketing, Glasgow Destination Management Organisation

Supported by VisitScotland

Hosted by: Victoria Taylor, Experience Consultant, VictoriaTaylUK

Join Victoria as she shares insights from industry leaders on what it takes to make attractions truly stand out. World Class isn’t about doing one thing well; it’s about how you do everything. This panel explores telling a unique founder story, balancing operational and creative perspectives, and unlocking hidden team skills. You’ll also discover how to turn retail into part of your cultural story, creating experiences that inspire and connect with visitors. From challenges to successes, the panel will show that anything is possible with a world-class mindset. You’ll leave with practical ideas to bring world-class events and digital experiences into your attraction.

Panellist: Arantxa Garcia
Creative Director and Founder, Exhibio VM Creative Studio

Arantxa Garcia is the founder and director of ExhibeoVM Creative Studio, specialising in creating narrative spaces and offering bespoke product development services for the cultural and heritage sectors as well as visitor attractions across the world. With more than 17 years of experience in the heritage retail sector, Arantxa works with some of this country’s leading museums and galleries as well as whisky and gin distilleries. She supports organisations to make commercial spaces part of the visitor experience.

Panellist: Chris Mather
Founder & CEO, Mather & Co

Chris Mather is the Founder and Chief Executive of Mather & Co, a leading visitor experience design agency. Before establishing the company, he was Design Director at Granada Television, an Officer in the Royal Navy, gained a law degree, and played international rugby.

Panellist: Ian Stirling
Co-CEO/Co-Founder, The Port of Leith Distillery and The Lind & Lime Distillery

Ian spent a decade in the wine trade in London before returning to Edinburgh in 2016 to establish a whisky distillery with his lifelong friend and business partner, Paddy Fletcher. With no experience of running or building a distillery, they embarked on a unique journey to raise millions, launch a global gin brand, explore new approaches to whisky production, and construct the world’s tallest distillery on a small patch of land in Leith.

Panellist: John Murray
Social Media Content Creator Manager, VisitScotland

John Murray leads organic social media content creation at VisitScotland, combining creative production, performance analysis, and strategy to engage audiences. He produces authentic video content showcasing Scotland’s landscapes, culture, and experiences. Beyond his role, he’s built a personal following of over 900,000 across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and won the visual category at the 2024 Scottish Influencer Awards.

Panellist: Gayle Shepherd
Director of Executive Office and Social Impact, Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Joining the Glasgow 2026 Team, with 10 years Executive Director level experience at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). Gayle has previously managed Operational Event Delivery, Project and Corporate Services teams, for many international events and most of your favourite music artists, which drove forward Scotland’s National Venues, OVO Hydro, Armadillo and SEC Centre, hosting around 300 events annually.

All for the Love of Animals: Balancing Commercial and Charitable Mission

Lisa Robshaw, Head of Marketing and Sales, The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland

Lisa will explore how embedding the RZSS 2030 strategy, ‘Now is the Time’, at the core of the organisation’s brand hierarchy has driven growth across both commercial income streams and individual giving. Drawing on recent examples, she will illustrate how RZSS is using commercial experiences to create long lasting charitable relationships, while sharing the successes and challenges the team has encountered along the way.

The Power of Experience: Turning Vision into Value

Stuart Cassells, Head of Sales – Generations, Gordon & MacPhail

In today’s experiential economy, success depends on more than profit alone. Drawing on his leadership across culture, whisky, and tourism, Stuart Cassells explores The Power of Experience – how vision and purpose can shape meaningful ‘guest’ journeys, increase commercial performance, and create lasting memorable impact.

Premium Experiences through Partnership

Adam Kennedy, Commercial Operations Director, Heritage Portfolio

This session will explore the trends and benefits of working in partnership, to drive premium food and beverage and event experiences that create unique opportunities for clients and customers.

The Play Effect: Sparking Joy and Connection in Visitor Attractions

Mark Grimshaw, Associate Director, Timberplay Scotland &
Abbi Ollive, Visitor Attraction Director, Castle Howard

Mark spends his days managing epic playground projects. Abbi spends hers managing an iconic Stately Home. In this session we will explore the positive effect that play can have when it is holistically integrated into a visitor attraction offer.
What happens beyond the playground itself, and how can a playful approach permeate the culture of an organisation and result in increased visitor retention, a shift in audience demographic, team satisfaction and ultimately financial sustainability.

Hosted by: Catherine Flanagan, CEO Association of Visitor Experiences & Attractions, Ireland

Catherine was appointed CEO of AVEA in 2022.  Previous experience in tourism and hospitality include time with the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), the Incoming Tour Operators Association, Gresham Hotel Group plc, and Great Southern Hotels.  She holds a BA (Mod) from Trinity College Dublin, an MBS from UCD, and an MSc in Hospitality Management from TU Dublin.  She has a particular interest in innovation in cultural tourism, and early career development.  Catherine sits on a number of industry groups including Tourism Ireland’s Central Marketing Partnership Group, Fáilte Ireland’s Industry Advisory Group, Fingal Food Tourism committee, and the ministerial advisory committee on public service vehicles.  She is a director of ITIC, and chair of the Five Lamps Arts Festival.

Ethna Murphy, Great Lighthouses of Ireland

Ethna Murphy is a strategic tourism development specialist. She has advised national, regional, and international organisations.
Ethna leads the tourism strategy and partnership development for the Great Lighthouses of Ireland, working with Irish Lights in collaboration with tourism agencies, public bodies and community operators. Under her guidance, GLI has evolved into a cross-border initiative that showcases lighthouse heritage while supporting coastal and island communities, safeguarding cultural assets, and promoting sustainable growth. Her work reflects the central themes of this conference: vision, collaboration, innovation, and delivering impact for destinations and communities.

Catherine Keegan, Diageo Irish Brand Homes

Catherine Keegan is Head of Innovation and Employee Engagement at Diageo Irish Brand Homes, which includes the iconic Guinness Storehouse, Roe & Co Distillery, Guinness Open Gate Brewery, and Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny. With 25+ years of experience in hospitality and brand experiences, she leads transformational projects that blend creativity, consumer insight, and commercial success. She’s passionate about storytelling, experience innovation, and creating vibrant, connected teams that deliver unforgettable experiences across Diageo’s iconic destinations in Ireland.

Attracting International Visitors and Driving Growth

Louise Bryce, Director of Partnerships, VisitBritain

VisitBritain will provide an overview of the current inbound market statistics and the top 5 consumer trends impacting marketing today. What VisitBritain is doing to attract international visitors and how partnering within a devolved tourism funded landscape can drive growth, and how you, as an individual business, can benefit.

Scotland: Champion – Connect – Invest

Marc Crothall MBE, CEO, The Scottish Tourism Alliance

With the Holyrood elections taking place in May 26 and many new faces vying for a seat in Parliament it’s never been more important to make the case for tourism, so that it’s front and centre in every political party manifesto. The STA election manifesto sets out the importance of the sector, the future opportunity, and the asks of the next government under 3 clear headlines.

People, Place & Creative Power – Building a Visitor Economy that Belongs to Scotland

Vicki Miller, Chief Executive, VisitScotland

Building a Visitor Economy that belongs to Scotland. Looking beyond the numbers (volume & value), how do we collectively create a visitor economy that is unique to Scotland, that will deliver value to our visitors, and the communities we are part of, ensuring businesses thrive? The presentation will also outline Visit Scotland’s priorities as part of that mission.

Birlinn
Creatomatic
Landmark Press
Elavon
FuseMetrix

Best Year
LOOP by Semantic
Bigjigs Toys Ltd
Bookspeed
One Pebble Consulting

Thomson Gray Ltd
Louise Jennifer Design
Worrywarts by Cured
Dynavics
Everyone

Lomond Books
Colour Heroes
Howden
Direct Distribution
Insight6

Eastern
Timberplay Scotland
ATS
Beyonk