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.

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 on Wednesday 29th January from 10:30am – 11:30am for the next Quality Assurance Engagement Session, open to everyone interested in learning more about ASVA’s Quality Assurance journey – including non-members.

This session will provide an opportunity to hear directly from ASVA CEO, Michael Golding, as he shares further updates in the latest developments around Quality Assurance within ASVA.

Whether you’re a member or simply interested in the future of QA in Scottish visitor attractions, this is a chance to engage, ask questions, and contribute your thoughts.

This session marks the continuation of our regular updates on this important journey. By opening this session to everyone, we aim to ensure that Quality Assurance in Scottish visitor attractions reflects the collective needs and ambitions of the sector.

Join us on Wednesday 18th December from 10:30am – 11:30am for the next Quality Assurance Engagement Session, open to everyone interested in learning more about ASVA’s Quality Assurance journey – including non-members!

This session will provide an opportunity to hear directly from ASVA CEO, Michael Golding, as he shares further updates in the latest developments around Quality Assurance within ASVA.

Whether you’re a member or simply interested in the future of QA in Scottish visitor attractions, this is a chance to engage, ask questions, and contribute your thoughts.

This session marks the continuation of what we anticipate to be regular updates on this important journey. By opening this session to everyone, we aim to ensure that Quality Assurance in Scottish visitor attractions reflects the collective needs and ambitions of the sector.

The ASVA General Meeting will take place on Monday 2nd December at 10:30am, to which all ASVA members are invited.

The AGM will be held virtually, via Zoom. Members can register by clicking on this link.

The agenda for the meeting can be found here.

To access the minutes from the previous AGM, please visit the ASVA Members Area and click on ‘ASVA Management Information’, followed by ‘ASVA Organisational Information’.

At the conclusion of the formal AGM business, our CEO Michael Golding will reflect on the last year of ASVA’s activity, and present on the vision of ASVA for the future.

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.