ASVA Event

We’re delighted to once again be able to offer our acclaimed Exceeding Visitor Expectations training course, which is designed specifically for frontline staff at visitor attractions.

This result-driven, highly relevant one-day course has a proven record of success – many of Scotland’s leading attractions have already taken advantage of it to boost their business performance and competitive edge by enhancing the quality of their visitor offering.

Exceeding Visitor Expectations has been created and crafted to equip customer-facing staff with the specialist skills and insights they need to deliver the very highest standards of service – ensuring every visitor enjoys a truly outstanding experience. Key areas covered can be seen below:

• Identify what your attraction and the area where you work has to offer;
• Understand who your visitors are and what the need and expect;
• Meet, manage and, whenever possible, exceed visitor expectations;
• Welcome visitors from all sections of the community and provide an accessible service;
• Communicate successfully with visitors;
• Use product/ destination knowledge to provide information and advice in an inspiring way;
• Deal effectively with challenging situations;
• Act as an ambassador for your attraction and local area.

Renowned skills development expert Catherine Bowie of Communicate Consultants will lead the training. Catherine is highly experienced in coaching sector team members and providing tailored guidance to enable them to fulfil the potential of their roles, enhancing visitor engagement and satisfaction. This empowers staff, honing their communications skills and building their confidence to help them handle any situation and act as a great ambassador for your attraction.

Please note: Cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

 

Join us in early June for two exciting new online events showcasing ASVA member organisations successful in winning national Thistle Awards in 2023. The first of these will take place on Tuesday 4th June and will feature presentations from 2 of the winning organisations who will share insights into their success, exclusively with fellow ASVA members.

Both events will offer fantastic opportunities to hear about best practice from industry colleagues – providing inspiration, ideas and learnings that members can take away.

At this session, hear from ASVA members at Glasgow Life and Camera Obscura & World of Illusions. The Burrell Collection won the Best Visitor Attraction Award, and we’re delighted to have Caroline Currie from The Burrell Collection join us to share insights into what The Burrell Collection have done to make their visitor experience so exceptional. Also taking part in this session will be Andrew Johnson from Camera Obscura. The team at Camera Obscura were successful in winning the Innovation in Tourism Thistle Award and Andrew will outline what they have done to continually enhance the visitor experience through a commitment to ingenuity and creativity.

These inspiring presentations will be following by a Q&A session, and the session will be exclusively for ASVA members.

Join us in early June for two exciting new online events showcasing ASVA member organisations successful in winning national Thistle Awards in 2023. The second of these will take place on Tuesday 11th June and will feature presentations from 2 of the winning organisations who will share insights into their success, exclusively with fellow ASVA members.

Both events will offer fantastic opportunities to hear about best practice from industry colleagues – providing inspiration, ideas and learnings that members can take away.

At this session, we’ll be joined by Caroline Quinn and Gerry McCann from Glasgow Science Centre. GSC was successful in winning the Inclusive Tourism Award, and Caroline and Gerry will share details about what has been done to ensure that GSC offers a truly inclusive welcome and experience for all visitors.

They will be followed by fellow award winners, SEA LIFE Loch Lomond. Successful in the inaugural Tourism and Hospitality Employer of the Year Award, Kathryn Adam from SEA LIFE Loch Lomond will join us to outline what they have done to create a supportive working environment, enabling their team to thrive.

There will be time for a Q&A Session following the presentations, and this session will be exclusively for ASVA members.

Mark you calendar for Wednesday 22nd May from 10:30am – 11:30am, for an exciting Industry Insight webinar on AI innovations and the latest advancements transforming visitor attractions.

During this session, Joshua Ryan-Saha, Director of Traveltech at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and AI expert, will discuss this year’s key trends and developments. He will also provide practical strategies for implementing AI and showcase relevant case studies from both visitor attractions and the wider travel industry.

Whether you’re considering adopting AI for the first time or looking to optimise your existing AI initiatives, this webinar will help equip you with the knowledge and inspiration needed to harness the power of artificial intelligence.

Get ready to explore:

• Significant AI trends: discover the latest advancements that are transforming how we interact with visitor attractions.
• Practical strategies: learn actionable strategies for implementing AI, whether you’re starting out or aiming to enhance your current approach.
• Inspiring case studies: gain insights from successful AI applications in visitor attractions and the broader tourism industry.

Don’t miss out on the chance to get ahead of the curve in utilising AI for your attraction.

******ONLINE BOOKINGS FOR THIS EVENT ARE NOW CLOSED. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, PLEASE CONTACT HELEN HENDERSON ON helen@asva.co.uk *******

Pop Up, experiential, dynamic, interactive. People want experiences! What does it all mean beyond the buzz words?

People are at the heart of every great visitor experience. The greatest deciding factor of converting a four-star review to a five-star review on Trip Advisor is the use of a staff members name. Human connections create positive experiences.   So often, this is underestimated, or the routine of a job can create barriers to best practice.

This one-day, practical workshop is designed to boost a delegate’s ability to shape an experience and take ownership over the visitor journey. Delegates learn to artfully deliver the mission and vision of where they work in a way that makes their individuality shine. The results of getting this right are increased satisfaction scores both internally and externally and improved commerciality. Enabling your team to delight your visitors by putting value in service.

High standards are a non- negotiable in Scottish tourism. Send your teams on Complete Experience to improve their proactivity and empower them to go the extra mile for your visitors.

Content includes:

• The value of enjoying your work, and being proud of what you deliver
• Mission and Vision on the front line
• Who are our visitors?
• Moods Expectations and Wants of our visitors
• Guest Journey mapping and Moments of Truth (as they relate to experience)
• The importance of Attention to Detail
• Why service matters
• Call to action – make memories

This course will be delivered by the team from Complete Works. Using techniques that are trained through these courses, the team at Complete Works has made a significant difference helping attractions across the country exceed challenging income targets. Projects they have led at attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the National Gallery have seen increases in visitor spend by multiple hundreds of percent. Through this training, you and your team members can learn to implement the techniques that will similarly wow your visitors and impact positively on your bottom line.

 

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

******ONLINE BOOKINGS FOR THIS EVENT ARE NOW CLOSED. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, PLEASE CONTACT HELEN HENDERSON ON helen@asva.co.uk *******

Pop Up, experiential, dynamic, interactive. People want experiences! What does it all mean beyond the buzz words?

People are at the heart of every great visitor experience. The greatest deciding factor of converting a four-star review to a five-star review on Trip Advisor is the use of a staff members name. Human connections create positive experiences.   So often, this is underestimated, or the routine of a job can create barriers to best practice.

This one-day, practical workshop is designed to boost a delegate’s ability to shape an experience and take ownership over the visitor journey. Delegates learn to artfully deliver the mission and vision of where they work in a way that makes their individuality shine. The results of getting this right are increased satisfaction scores both internally and externally and improved commerciality. Enabling your team to delight your visitors by putting value in service.

High standards are a non- negotiable in Scottish tourism. Send your teams on Complete Experience to improve their proactivity and empower them to go the extra mile for your visitors.

Content includes:

• The value of enjoying your work, and being proud of what you deliver
• Mission and Vision on the front line
• Who are our visitors?
• Moods Expectations and Wants of our visitors
• Guest Journey mapping and Moments of Truth (as they relate to experience)
• The importance of Attention to Detail
• Why service matters
• Call to action – make memories

This course will be delivered by the team from Complete Works. Using techniques that are trained through these courses, the team at Complete Works has made a significant difference helping attractions across the country exceed challenging income targets. Projects they have led at attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the National Gallery have seen increases in visitor spend by multiple hundreds of percent. Through this training, you and your team members can learn to implement the techniques that will similarly wow your visitors and impact positively on your bottom line.

 

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

******ONLINE BOOKINGS FOR THIS EVENT ARE NOW CLOSED. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, PLEASE CONTACT HELEN HENDERSON ON helen@asva.co.uk *******

Pop Up, experiential, dynamic, interactive. People want experiences! What does it all mean beyond the buzz words?

People are at the heart of every great visitor experience. The greatest deciding factor of converting a four-star review to a five-star review on Trip Advisor is the use of a staff members name. Human connections create positive experiences.   So often, this is underestimated, or the routine of a job can create barriers to best practice.

This one-day, practical workshop is designed to boost a delegate’s ability to shape an experience and take ownership over the visitor journey. Delegates learn to artfully deliver the mission and vision of where they work in a way that makes their individuality shine. The results of getting this right are increased satisfaction scores both internally and externally and improved commerciality. Enabling your team to delight your visitors by putting value in service.

High standards are a non- negotiable in Scottish tourism. Send your teams on Complete Experience to improve their proactivity and empower them to go the extra mile for your visitors.

Content includes:

• The value of enjoying your work, and being proud of what you deliver
• Mission and Vision on the front line
• Who are our visitors?
• Moods Expectations and Wants of our visitors
• Guest Journey mapping and Moments of Truth (as they relate to experience)
• The importance of Attention to Detail
• Why service matters
• Call to action – make memories

This course will be delivered by the team from Complete Works. Using techniques that are trained through these courses, the team at Complete Works has made a significant difference helping attractions across the country exceed challenging income targets. Projects they have led at attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the National Gallery have seen increases in visitor spend by multiple hundreds of percent. Through this training, you and your team members can learn to implement the techniques that will similarly wow your visitors and impact positively on your bottom line.

 

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Delivered in partnership with Complete Works, the next in our exclusive ASVA members Industry Insights webinar series will explore how to maximise the opportunities presented by seasonal events. Events can be great fun; they are marketing gold and a chance to motivate your teams with something different, engage a new audience or tell a new story. But, before printing out another colouring-in sheet – take a moment to check if your plans are going to hit the targets you’ve set, make you a return on the time and effort you expend and be the best fit for the kind of experience you are passionate about delivering.

So often, we do an event to attract a new audience, and we deliver that, however it can get in the way of maximising secondary spend, especially memberships and donations – which sounds counterintuitive – until you delve a bit deeper. Getting the right ask, in the right place in the visitor journey for the new audience is key, as is understanding the long game in terms of success.  We can’t change the experience and do the same thing we have always done.

Join us for this event and get some tips on event creation before the Easter season. It will also offer the opportunity to network with other members to see what is happening elsewhere in the industry. Be inspired to go bigger and create something with real impact for your guests that delivers on your goals!

Key learnings from the event will be :

• How to add value to your guest experience seasonally, to drive repeat visits and audience advocacy
• How to make sure you are creating something that is uniquely you
• How to evaluate success and learn from it to improve

Complete Works has been driving revenue at visitor attractions through secondary spend (donations, memberships, F&B and retail) and ticket sales for more than 10 years. They  also run theatrical seasonal events in large corporate settings and visitor attractions.  This is a quick deep dive into their experience and how they get the results that matter.

Jump into 2024 with a solid plan for the seasons, and use these events to grow your audience, and drive revenue – so Santa can put you on his nice list.

About Complete Works: The Complete Works team; Bala McAlinn, George McLean and Alyce Paton, are actors and attraction managers – running amazing seasonal experiences across the UK whilst delivering formidable return on investment on commercial projects. Hot off the heels of Christmas, they may still be in elf and Santa costumes…

• At their largest experience client this Christmas they delivered 18 5-star reviews out of 19 Trip Advisor reviews with 16 staff across 19 days
• Across 6 of their Christmas 2023 clients, the average ticket price increased 239% during the event run
• They achieved a year 1 financial ROI of 403% over the Christmas period at the Natural History Museum

This ASVA  Industry Insights webinar will be taking place on Thursday 22nd February at 10.30am. Joining ASVA for this event will be Jack Ogston and Amy Gibson from digital agency Creatomatic for an in-depth look at Google Analytics 4. They will share insights into how to get to grips with some really useful features that can help assess, inform and guide your digital marketing activity. During the session, they’ll be looking at: Configuring events Conversion and Purchase tracking Tracking campaigns with custom URLs Creating custom reports and collections Important metrics to consider The session will be led by Jack, Creatomatic’s Digital Marketing Team Lead. As well as an Honours degree in Business Management with Marketing and a background in social and marketing, Jack has worked with Creatomatic clients since 2018 to help develop their digital performance. His work involves everything from SEO, Analytics and data interpretation to social and marketing strategy. As Creatomatic’s resident GA4 specialist, he’s also Google Skillshop Analytics certified. Following Jack’s presentation, Amy will then share suggestions, ideas and insights into how this information can be used to boost sales, guide strategy and inspire your online content, all enabling members to utilise data gathered to boost business. Amy is Creatomatic’s Business Development manager and has over 18 years experience in sales, marketing and business management. Following the presentations there will be the opportunity for a Q&A session. To make sure the session is as useful for members as possible, the Creatomatic team are keen to hear in advance from anyone that may have a GA4 related question. This will enable them to answer as many questions as possible and to also know what it would really help members to hear about. Anyone with a specific GA4 question should send it in to marketing@creatomatic.co.uk before 16/02/2024 and the team will do their best to include this in their webinar. About Creatomatic: Creatomatic are specialist digital partners for a growing number of clients in the tourism and hospitality industry and understand the importance of traffic, bookings and footfall. Making the most of your digital marketing activities has never been more important and the Creatomatic team are here to help members learn more about GA4, collect valuable data and maximise those marketing budgets.

 

In conjunction with VisitScotland, on Thursday 14th March we will be running one of our popular Be a QA for a Day workshops. This event gives those participating the opportunity to visit and grade another attraction as if they were a VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor. Delegates will get a thorough understanding of how the QA scheme operates, what the advisors are looking for, and inspiration for positive changes that can be made to enhance the visitor experience at their own attraction.

The ability to conduct a ‘mystery visit’ is crucial to the course, so we don’t reveal the venue in advance. However, this course will take place at a venue in Central Scotland.

This event is a one-day workshop, giving those participating a thorough understanding of how the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme operates, what the advisors are looking for, and inspiration for positive changes that can be made to enhance the visitor experience at their own attraction.

Course aim
The day is led by an experienced VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor, who will begin by giving an explanation of the grading process, including an overview of the grading visit and the scoring structure. This is a practical course which includes a mock grading visit to an actual visitor attraction. Following the visit, the group will then meet again to review the process and for further discussion.

The aim is to ensure that delegates attending will gain a greater understanding of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme and be able to identify how they can improve the visitor experience at their own attraction. The course teaches attention to detail, the art of benchmarking, and gives insight into the inner workings of the QA scheme.

Taking part also provides excellent networking opportunities with industry colleagues. For further details on the course content please click here.

Delegate Info
To ensure the optimum experience for those taking part, numbers on these courses are limited to 12 delegates, with members being able to book 2 places per organisation. The cost is £120 per delegate (inclusive of vat). This event is exclusively for ASVA members.

Should you have any questions, please contact Helen Henderson, ASVA Membership Manager on helen@asva.co.uk

We’re delighted to once again be able to offer our acclaimed Exceeding Visitor Expectations training course, which is designed specifically for frontline staff at visitor attractions.

This result-driven, highly relevant one-day course has a proven record of success – many of Scotland’s leading attractions have already taken advantage of it to boost their business performance and competitive edge by enhancing the quality of their visitor offering.

Exceeding Visitor Expectations has been created and crafted to equip customer-facing staff with the specialist skills and insights they need to deliver the very highest standards of service – ensuring every visitor enjoys a truly outstanding experience. Developed in conjunction with VisitScotland, the content is aligned with its Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme, to enable participants to support their attraction in meeting and surpassing the standards of 5-star service, hospitality and friendliness that are measured during a quality assurance assessment. Key areas covered can be seen below, and more information can be found here:

• Identify what your attraction and the area where you work has to offer;
• Understand who your visitors are and what the need and expect;
• Meet, manage and, whenever possible, exceed visitor expectations;
• Welcome visitors from all sections of the community and provide an accessible service;
• Communicate successfully with visitors;
• Use product/ destination knowledge to provide information and advice in an inspiring way;
• Deal effectively with challenging situations;
• Act as an ambassador for your attraction and local area.

Renowned skills development expert Catherine Bowie of Communicate Consultants will lead the training. Catherine is highly experienced in coaching sector team members and providing tailored guidance to enable them to fulfil the potential of their roles, enhancing visitor engagement and satisfaction. This empowers staff, honing their communications skills and building their confidence to help them handle any situation and act as a great ambassador for your attraction.

Please note: Cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

 

 

Join us at 10.30am on Tuesday 16^th January for the first ASVA Industry Insights webinar of the New Year! Kicking off 2024 in style, we will be joined by the gutsy creative agency – StudioLR, where they’ll be exploring the world of branding and campaigns.

In this webinar ‘Build a Brand Visitors Keep Coming Back For’, they’ll cover everything you need to know, including:

• What brands are and why they matter;
• The fundamentals of brand strategy;
• How to go about developing your business;
• And crucially, how to use creativity to attract new visitors.

You’ll leave the session armed with some quick tips and long-term thinking that will be applicable no matter your business or its size.

Who the LR they?
The talk will be led by Dave King, Head of Creative and Strategy at StudioLR. A big show-off (colleagues’ words!) who loves helping brands stand out, Dave is a regular conference speaker on brave creative work. He created D&AD’s Bravery Masterclass and delivers it worldwide to some of the world’s best agencies and in-house teams. A creative thinker with over a decade’s experience creating insightful workshops, stand-out strategy, and cut-through creative, Dave is a serial award-winner since including multiple Golds and Rising Creative Star at the Marketing Society, a global D&AD for Writing for Brands, and the Grand Prix at The Nods (twice).

StudioLR is the award winning gutsy creative agency. They’ve been grabbing organisations’ insides and making them interesting since 2004. From brand strategy through to creative campaigns, they work with ambitious marketeers and leaders to build standout brands and campaigns. Clients include Historic Environment Scotland, National Museum of Flight, The D-Day Story, OnFife and St James Quarter.