Smart Talking with ASVA (Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions)

Smart Talking chats to Eva McDiarmid, Chief Executive of ASVA, the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, ahead of next week’s Scottish tourism Twitter chat #scotlandhour which celebrates Scotland’s visitor attractions and museums.

Hi Eva and welcome to Smart Talking. Please tell us more about ASVA and what it does.

We are the trade/ membership organisation for visitor attractions in Scotland.  We have some 450 member sites. Our mission statement is “To support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver sustainable and world class experiences” and this is done through promoting best practice, sharing experiences, supporting innovation and driving change.  We represent the sector at national level to government and other public agencies on issues that affect the sector.

We launched our new website earlier in the year and our members can access a considerable amount of data and reports. We collate and publish (in conjunction with Lynn Jones Research) a monthly report with benchmarking stats on visitor numbers and average spends on admission, retail and catering. Our Development Programme runs throughout the year and covers topics relevant to members’ needs – most are free to attend but a few do attract charges.

ASVA is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. What are some of the key changes that ASVA has experienced over that time and what are some of the challenges for the organisation and membership in the coming years?

The changes we have seen mirror those that many have seen, namely the change from many processes being manually done to the advent of digital technology. By embracing that we can free up time to interact more and make information and intelligence available to members in an easily accessible format. We are a mature destination with all the benefits and challenges that brings, so keeping the offer fresh and offering value for money will be key. Although Scotland is a small country, we still have iconography that many countries would kill for: clans and tartan, Whisky, bagpipes as well as stunning world class scenery, food & drink, ancient castles and of course the Loch Ness Monster.

ASVA runs an annual Awards scheme for its members – tell us more about it.

We have three awards:

• Rising Star – open to all under 30 year olds who have made a really significant contribution to their organisation.  The three finalists are invited to attend the conference for FREE, so a great opportunity for young people who might not normally have the opportunity to attend a major conference.
• Marketing – this can be for a stand-alone campaign or one which features a destination where at least one of the participants is an ASVA member.
• Best Visitor Experience – sponsored by the Royal Yacht Britannia, invites applications from sites who consider they offer the best possible visitor experience.

All sites are visited and what the judges experience has to match what the entry states – no opportunity to over-egg the cake.

ASVA celebrates its annual conference this year on 13th & 14th November in St. Andrews. What can delegates expect and how can people keep track of what’s happening?

For the first time this year we’ll be tweeting live from the conference and encouraging our delegates and speakers to do so using the hashtag #ASVAconference. People can follow the hashtag to keep in touch with us. Our conference is now fully booked with a wait list – so great news!  The speaker line-up is excellent and the venue is a world-class hotel – the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews – so it’s all looking good.

Do digital and social media have a place in your organisation?

At the moment we are just starting to embrace digital and social media but we do understand just how important these are. The use of mobile devices to do just about everything has grown exponentially in the last couple of years so we need to appreciate what people want to access and make it easy for them.

What would you say to your ASVA members to encourage them to take part in next Wednesday’s #Scotlandhour, celebrating Scottish visitor attractions and museums ?

It’s a great opportunity for visitor attractions and museums to get involved and tell the world about who they are and what they can offer visitors. We mentioned #scotlandhour in our last e-update to members last week and shall continue to encourage participation via Twitter between now and next Wednesday.

Many thanks Eva – all the best for the ASVA conference in November and we look forward to tweeting with many ASVA members next Wednesday 30th October for #scotlandhour from 9-10pm GMT.

Visit www.asva.co.uk for more information, join the LinkedIn group or tweet ASVA at @ASVATweets