News

Paul Nixon, General Manager at The Real Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh has been appointed the new Chair of the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA), the body which represents the interests of the visitor attractions sector in Scotland.

The appointment was confirmed at ASVA’s recent annual general meeting.

Having spent the past 20 years in senior tourism roles, Paul has managed some of Scotland’s most popular visitor attractions including, Deep Sea World, the National Museum of Flight, the Scottish Seabird Centre, and CairnGorm Mountain. In 2019, he joined the Continuum Group as General Manager at the 5 Star accredited Real Mary Kings Close. 

Speaking of his appointment as Chair of ASVA, Paul said: “I am both delighted and honoured to be stepping up into the role of Chair to support the ASVA Board and executive team going forward. Whilst many members are still healing from the implications of the pandemic and with the continuing challenges within our sector, I am very confident that ASVAs mission and strategy will continue to provide our members with the support and guidance needed, to enable us all to develop and grow.”

The organisation has also welcomed three new ASVA board members to enhance ASVA’s voice and reach across various regions in Scotland. Joining the board are Isabel Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer for Gretna Green Ltd, and Iain Hawkins, Regional Director at the National Trust for Scotland for the Northeast, two individuals with an unparalleled knowledge of the industry, who are passionate advocates for their respective regions.

Isabel Rhodes has over 20 years of previous experience in senior executive leadership roles within the retail industry and has recently led a multimillion-pound transformation of the Famous Blacksmiths Attraction developing an immersive storytelling experience for tourism visitors to Scotland, showcasing the history and heritage to both UK and international visitors.

Iain Hawkins joined the National Trust for Scotland in 2016 and is based at the region’s offices in the Crathes estate. Iain is responsible for a diverse portfolio of properties across Aberdeenshire and Angus including J M Barrie’s Birthplace, Barry Mill, Castle Fraser, Craigievar Castle, Crathes Castle, Drum Castle, Fyvie Castle, Haddo House, House of Dun, Leith Hall and Pitmedden Garden. Before joining the National Trust for Scotland in 2016, Iain spent 22 years working for global visitor attraction operator Merlin Entertainments.

As well as the appointments of Iain and Isabel, ASVA has sought to recognise the important contribution that young people make within the attractions industry, by introducing a new Board position specifically for talented individuals under the age of 30. The organisation is delighted to welcome Erin Flett, Head of Business Development at Aberdeen Science Centre, to the Board in this role, one of the industry’s most talented young professionals.

On becoming the organisation’s youngest board member, Erin said: “I’m delighted to be joining the ASVA Board at what is a very exciting, albeit challenging, time for the visitor attractions industry. As the youngest board member to date, I hope to be a different voice around the table, and I look forward to working with my fellow Board Members and the executive team over the next few years.”

Welcoming the new ASVA Chair and board members, Gordon Morrison, CEO of ASVA said: “I am delighted to welcome Paul Nixon as the new Chair of ASVA. Paul has many years’ experience of working in visitor attractions and is acutely aware of both the challenges and opportunities for our sector over the coming months and years. I am also delighted that ASVA has further strengthened our Board with new, distinct, strong voices from the Northeast and South of the country. Both Iain and Isabel have their fingers on the pulse of tourism in their regions, and I am really looking forward to working with them to further benefit attractions in these beautiful parts of Scotland. 

Recognising the importance of young people to our sector is something I am passionate about. Having worked in tourism & hospitality myself since my early 20s, I know that this industry presents great opportunities for career development for young people and that young people bring so much creativity, energy and new ideas to our sector that help us to consistently exceed visitor expectations. I am therefore really excited that ASVA has appointed its youngest board member to date, Erin Flett.

I have no doubts that all these new voices around the Board table will be huge assets to our organisation as we continue to support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver outstanding experiences for each and every visitor.”

The five regional winners of the Best Visitor Attraction have now been shortlisted for a national Scottish Thistle Award – which celebrates the best of Scotland’s tourism and events industry. We would like to congratulate ASVA members Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, MacDuff Marine Aquarium, and The Helix for becoming finalists for the Great Day Out award at the National Scottish Thistle Awards. 

The winner of the Great Day Out Award will be announced at the Scottish Thistle Awards National Final on February 9, 2023. 

It is pleasing to see ASVA members strongly represented in the finals, and it is great for our sector as a whole that the Scottish Sun is shining a spotlight on some of the high-quality attractions have to offer. 

For the first time, the winner of the award will be picked by the general public with the voting open now. Anyone reading this article can vote for their favourite, which will be a very difficult decision to make, given the quality of attractions in the final. 

Voting is open now and will close on 3rd December at midnight, the link to vote for the winner can be found here. 

Scotland’s smaller tourism establishments, including eligible visitor attractions, are being encouraged to find out how leading international eco-certificate – Green Key – can help them to secure year-on-year environmental improvements, financial savings and attract customers who are increasingly seeking out sustainable options. 

Keep Scotland Beautiful is working with VisitScotland to give smaller tourism establishments the chance to join Green Key with a discount of £500 off the first year of membership. The funding is part of VisitScotland’s Sustainability Certification Scheme Fund for Tourism Recovery, and the Destination Net Zero Programme. The discount is available for ten micro, small and SME businesses until March 2023, on a first come first served basis. 

For more information, please click here.

The latest ASVA Visitor Attractions Barometer reports, for September 2022, are now available to view in the Members Area of our website. 

As has been noted in previous reports comparing 2022 figures to those of 2021 presents a number of challenges, primarily due to the levels of covid disruption that were still being experienced through much of 2021. By the time we reached September last year, Scotland had moved fully ‘Beyond Level 0’ in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for Recovery, so covid restrictions were as light as they had ever been since the start of the pandemic. However, it is important to note that even beyond Level 0, there were still covid measures that remained in place, such as compulsory face coverings for staff and the public and the requirement for test and protect information in hospitality settings. It is also highly significant that consumer confidence remained very fragile with both the domestic and international markets, so the recovery of visitor numbers, even beyond level 0, was somewhat limited. It is therefore no surprise that, when we see comparisons between visitor numbers across ASVA member sites in September 2022 and September 2021, there is a significant difference, with the figures up by 44.6% for the month and by 114.5% for the year to date, January to September. 

Further analysis is therefore needed if we are to better understand to what extent visitor attractions are seeing a genuine recovery in 2022. By comparing September 2022 to September 2019 – a more ‘normal’ year – we get a clearer picture of how the sector is actually faring. Comparing September ’22 to September ’19, across all ASVA attractions visitor numbers were down 20% for the month and 26.5% for the year to date. Whilst these are the strongest visitor figures that have been reported collectively by ASVA members since the start of the pandemic, it remains clear that the majority of the sector are still considerably down on what would be regarded as a normal year’s trading.  

Looking more closely at the different types of attractions, for the most part, outdoor venues still continued to outperform their indoor counterparts in terms of speed of recovery of visitor numbers. Outdoor/Nature attractions were actually up an impressive 28.4% on the corresponding month in 2019, and for the year to date, numbers for this sector are actually up on 2019, albeit by just a fraction (0.3%). When compared to the likes of Castle & Forts (down 39.5%) and Museums & Galleries (down 21.3%), it can be seen that the recovery of visitor numbers across the board is anything but consistent. 

It is therefore safe to assume that 2022 has not been a year of ‘full recovery’ for our sector. Numbers have been gradually improving as the year has gone on, with consumer confidence clearly returning and visitor spending holding up well, however, the improvement rate has been slow and is very inconsistent across different attraction types and locations. On top of this, increases in the cost of doing business, issues with recruitment & retention of staff and, of course, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the consumer are undoubtedly now causing challenges which inhibit the sector’s recovery. 

Tough times are ahead, of that there is no doubt. ASVA will continue to shine a spotlight on these challenging conditions to both the Scottish and UK Governments, whilst stressing the importance of our sector to the overall recovery of tourism in Scotland and the Scottish economy. 

The latest ASVA Visitor Attractions Barometer reports, for July 2022, is now available to view in the Members Area of our website.

As has been noted in previous reports comparing 2022 figures to those of 2021 presents a number of challenges, as even in July ‘21, the sector was still being disrupted by covid regulations. It was only on 19^th July that Scotland moved into Level 0, so much of the month was spent in Level 1,where both limits on the number of people who could mingle from different groups and 2 metre physical distancing restrictions were still very much in effect. Even in Level 0, 1 metre physical distancing was still in effect in indoor venues, impacting on capacities at a number of attractions.  As a result, the restrictions still considerably impacted on visitor numbers for the entirely of the month of July in 2021. It is therefore no surprise at all that, when we compare June 2022 to June 2021, we see visitor numbers up 81% for the month and 148% for the year to date.

It is only when we analyse the 2022 figures against those of 2019, that we can fully understand where the industry is at the end of July, in terms of recovery from the pandemic and a comparison with a more ‘normal’ year. Comparing June ’22 to June ’19, across all ASVA attractions, visitor numbers were down 24% for the month and just under 28% for the year to date. These figures are remarkably consistent with those seen in June, demonstrating that there was a stabilisation of visitor numbers across the board following what had been a period of great inconsistency in the preceding months. 

Looking more closely at the different types of attraction, it is once again outdoor venues that led the way, with Wildlife/Animal attractions up very slightly (+0.4%) and Outdoor/Nature attractions up by 3.3% for the month of July, when compared with the same period in 2019. The majority of indoor venues were still suffering from ongoing restrictions however, with for example, Museums & Galleries down over 34% and Castles/Forts down by nearly 45%.

Given that the figures being reported now, take us through the first 7 months of 2022, it is safe to say that the sector has not experienced and will not experience a ‘full recovery’ in 2022.  Month on month, the picture has improved with visitor numbers gradually improving. However, the improvement rate is very slow and small and indeed remans patchy across attraction type and location. On top of this, recruitment challenges of course persist and the cost-of-living crisis has yet to fully bite and will impact on our sector’s recovery for the rest of the year (and likely beyond).  In our ongoing dialogue with the Scottish Government and STERG, ASVA will continue to shine a spotlight on these challenging conditions and the need for both the Scottish and UK Governments to take action to support our industry through yet another turbulent period.

To further enhance the networking opportunities associated with the conference, ASVA is delighted to be hosting an exclusive ‘ASVA Members Only’ Drinks Reception on the evening before the Industry Conference. This will be the first ASVA only ‘in person’ networking event we have held in over two years and as a result we want it to be a big one! 

We would like to invite each and every ASVA member to join us at the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town on the evening of Tuesday 8th November, from 7pm to 10pm. There is no overarching theme here, no grand announcements will be made, we just want to bring our members together to network, socialise, let your hair down and have some fun. We also don’t want price to be a barrier, so the drinks reception event will be completely free of charge!  Why? Because after yet another hard year, you deserve it! 

Drinks and snacks will be provided, and the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions will be yours to explore, giving you an amazing opportunity to meet and interact with colleagues from across our membership in a very relaxed and informal setting. There will also be the opportunity to mingle with some of those who will be speaking at the Industry Conference, so an early opportunity to pick up some best practice. 

We would also make it clear that you don’t have to be attending the Industry Conference to come to our Drinks Reception. All are welcome, whether you will be attending the conference or not (of course, we would heartily recommend you do attend the conference too, as it will be a fabulous event!). 

To book your free place(s) at what is going to be a great evening of networking and fun, please register here.  

Scotland’s Tourism Industry Conference is back for 2022. With a packed programme, the event is designed to celebrate, empower and further propel our industry into the future in line with the national ambition to be leaders in 21st century tourism. 

The landscape our industry operates in has changed significantly over recent years, prompting huge change, unprecedented challenges but also new opportunities. 

A collaboration between ASVA, the Scottish Tourism Alliance and HIT Scotland (Hospitality Industry Trust), the Industry Conference will run across two days. The theme of this year’s event is ‘New World. New Opportunity. New Responsibility’. The conference will bring together an exciting range of speakers to deliver important insights, advice, and inspiration to navigate and flourish in this new world and to embrace the new opportunities and responsibilities it presents. This year’s event will also feature an exhibitor hall as well as a complimentary evening reception offering the ideal chance to catch up, connect and have fun. 

The biggest conference of its kind in Scotland, the much-awaited event of the year is the perfect opportunity for the community to re-connect with industry peers, make new connections, gain invaluable and actionable learnings from expert speakers, share knowledge, and be inspired. 

This is an unmissable event for anyone at any level who works in Scottish visitor attractions or supports our sector in any way. Further programme details will be forthcoming in the days and weeks to follow, but we can promise an array of speakers, from these shores and beyond, who will directly inspire and inform those working in the attractions sector.   The conference will take place at Edinburgh’s EICC on Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th November. For more information and to book, please click here.

Who is truly confident they understand their insurance policy? With the changing insurance market – be it reduced insurer capacity, increasing premium rates, growing restrictions or ever more onerous terms and conditions – it is vital to understand what cover you are purchasing and what it is that the insurer may be asking you to do, or comply with, in order for the insurance to be in effect.  So, who can you turn to for advice and support? 

As an additional benefit to our members, the executive team at ASVA have engaged with Circle Insurance Services to provide a free, confidential Helpline service. This exclusive offering can assist you with any insurance or risk management issue, no matter how simple or complex. 

Circle Insurance Services are an independent, Chartered firm of insurance professionals. Their Circle Heritage and Circle Visitor Attractions division, specialise in providing insurance advice, bespoke insurance coverage and claims management to organisations tasked with preserving our history and heritage. 

Circle Insurance Services have been a member of ASVA since 2013 and in that time, they have worked closely with the executive committee. Circle’s experience and insight from working with attractions large and small across the UK has been beneficial to the ASVA executive committee and members alike.  

Impartial and independent advice can be obtained over the phone or by email. Upon contacting the Helpline, your enquiry will be supported by an experienced insurance professional at Circle, who shall help to guide you. 

Please call 01260 292861 or email heritage@circleinsurance.co.uk 

The latest ASVA Visitor Attractions Barometer reports, for June 2022, is now available to view in the Members Area of our website.

As has been noted in previous reports comparing 2022 figures to those of 2021 presents a number of challenges, as even as late as June 21, the sector was still being heavily disrupted by covid regulations. By 5th June ‘21, all of Scotland was either in Level 1 or Level 2, so definite progress had been made, but even at Level 1, restrictions still included limits on the number of people who could mingle from different groups, and of course, physical distancing was still very much in effect.  As a result, the restrictions still considerably impacted on visitor numbers across virtually all attraction types on Scotland for the entirely of the month of June in 2021. It is therefore no surprise at all that, when we compare June 2022 to June 2021, we see visitor numbers up 103% for the month and 202% for the year to date.

It is only when we analyse the 2022 figures against those of 2019, that we can fully understand where the industry is at just now in terms of recovery from the pandemic and a return to ‘normality’. Comparing June ’22 to June ’19, across all ASVA attractions, visitor numbers were down just under 24% for the month and 30% for the year to date. The picture across different locations and attraction types remains somewhat mixed, but it can be ascertained that June was comparatively a better month than experienced by the sector in May.  This may partly be due to more sunny weather leading to more visitors travelling to experience primarily outdoor attractions, and a reduction in the number of covid cases, after a swift upturn in May.

Certainly Outdoor/Nature attractions enjoyed very healthy visitation levels, with attractions in this category reporting numbers are up over 27% on 2019. Other parts of the sector are nowhere near at this level, so this category is an outlier, with other ‘major’ categories such as Museums & Galleries, Distilleries & Breweries and Castles/Forts, reporting numbers that are down by 20%+. 

What is becoming increasingly clear is that we are not going to be in a position to talk about the sector experiencing a ‘full recovery’ in 2022.  Though visitor numbers are gradually improving, the improvement rate is very incremental and indeed very patchy. On top of this recruitment challenges and the rapidly developing cost of living crisis is impacting and will continue to impact on our sector’s recovery for the rest of the year (and likely beyond).  In our ongoing dialogue with the Scottish Government and STERG, ASVA will continue to shine a spotlight on these challenging conditions and the need for action to support our industry, which is so important both economically and culturally to Scotland.

Leading legal experts – and ASVA trade member organisation – Anderson Strathern – have shared a legal update with ASVA which will have implications for many employers in our sector.

Last week, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision around holiday pay, noting that nothing in the Part-Time Workers Regulations prohibited part-time workers from being treated more favourably than their full-time counterparts.

In summary; all permanent members of staff – i.e., those on continuing employment contracts (as opposed to casual, self-employed or consultant workers) – are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ pay in accordance with the Working Time Regulations. Notably, this includes employees on zero hours permanent contracts who may go many weeks without performing any work and other weeks working the full week. The decision means they have an automatic right to 5.6 weeks’ holiday regardless of the amount of time they work.

Employers who previously utilised 12.07% to determine holiday pay for permanent part-year employees (using a 12-week reference period) should now calculate holiday pay based on the employee’s average weekly remuneration in the previous 52 weeks.
 
Employers may want to review their holiday pay arrangements to ensure they are compliant with the Supreme Court Judgement.

Anderson Strathern has shared a briefing note with us which includes details of the decision and how to correctly calculate holiday pay. This briefing note can be found here.
 
If you have any specific questions about this, please contact our CEO, Gordon Morrison, at gordon@asva.co.uk and he will liaise with ASVA’s key contact at Anderson Strathern on your behalf.
 
In related news, the UK Government has also produced new guidance on employment status and employment rights matters to support individuals and businesses to better understand what rights apply to them. The guidance can be found at this link.

• Special subscription offer to be featured on Good Journey’s website with journey planners will help attractions boost their welcome to the 24% of UK households without a car, plus international visitors

• Marketing platform and Good Journey Mark endorsement will enable ASVA members to attract new visitors by train, bus, bike and foot – whilst supporting sustainable tourism and carbon reduction

ASVA is delighted to have teamed up with Good Journey to encourage and enable more people to visit attractions all over Scotland by train, bus, bike and foot.

The Good Journey website is the go-to for guidance on how to get around the UK without a car – providing visitors from both the home and overseas markets with super-easy travel information and transport solutions to help them plan journeys and access all that’s on offer around the country. Good Journey helps visitors decide where to spend their leisure time by providing simple-to-use journey planners highlighting travel options for places of interest to visit by rail, bus, shuttlebus, fixed-price taxi, bike or on foot.  

Sites and venues subscribed to the Good Journey site – and promoted by the Good Journey Accreditation Mark – can:

• attract new visitors (24% of UK households don’t have access to a car and the majority of international visitors do not hire one whilst holidaying in Scotland)
• cut overall carbon emissions – typically over 50% is from cars
• increase their income – car-free visitors spend around 20% more
• reduce congestion in their car-parks and access roads
• meet their sustainability goals

ASVA was extremely pleased to join forces with Good Journey (which recently joined ASVA as a trade member) as we are keen for more attractions throughout Scotland to capitalise on the considerable benefits offered by Good Journey subscription and to support our members with their own environmental sustainability goals.   

And thanks to the new partnership, ASVA attraction members can take advantage of very special introductory terms to sign up to Good Journey. Subscriptions to join range from £75 to £450 depending on visitor numbers and Good Journey has very generously offered ASVA attraction members a special introductory rate of two years’ subscription for the price of one.  

ASVA CEO, Gordon Morrison, said: “I’d urge ASVA attraction members of all types throughout the country to make the most of these great terms offered by Good Journey to boost the welcome they offer to car-free visitors, join the movement for green travel, and support the growth of sustainable tourism in Scotland.”

Good Journey Director, Nat Taplin, added: “Welcoming car-free visitors is a win-win for all involved. You’ll be opening your doors to the huge number of potential visitors, from both within the UK and overseas markets, who don’t have access to a car, as well as helping to cut carbon and reduce traffic and congestion on roads and at leisure sites. So whilst you are helping to keep Scotland and its wonderful natural environment special, you are also supporting the growth of your business and the success of your local economy.”

With easy travel information on Good Journey’s website and a green travel discount to reward car-free visitors – Good Journey subscribers are recognised and endorsed by the Good Journey Mark and benefit from a bespoke travel page and door-to-door journey planners to enable them to welcome many more visitors by train, bus, bike and foot. As a member, you’ll also receive Good Journey’s toolkit on Welcoming Car-free Visitors and support with any aspects of improving or promoting sustainable travel – from shuttle buses to cycle racks.

Results reported by a host of leading UK attractions that have already joined Good Journey highlight the success it has achieved for them. Blenheim Palace, for example, increased car-free visitors by over 25,000 in just two years – with 500 people a week using Blenheim’s Good Journey page to plan car-free journeys. The attraction promotes 30% off entry for car-free visitors, using the Good Journey Mark throughout its marketing.

ASVA members wishing to take advantage of Good Journey’s exclusive subscription rate can find details of how to do this via our website’s Members Exclusive Offers page.