Member directory

ALVA members fall into three natural sub-groupings:

Within these categories some are public bodies, others are in the private sector. Some charge for admission, others do not. Some operate all year round, others seasonally.

They differ in style and ethos but not in appeal; all are popular and well recognised visitor attractions of prime importance to the nation's tourism industry.

 

MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA:

 

ALVA’s members are the most popular, iconic and important visitor attractions in the UK. Our members manage over 2200 sites and host more than 119 million visits by domestic and overseas visitors every year, more than 28% of all visits made in the UK annually. We represent our members to government, the media, business and the broader tourism and cultural sectors. Through our events, benchmarking services and the sharing of information, insights and experience we help our members continually improve their visitor experience and offering.

Our membership criteria are:

Those visitor attractions in the UK which:

–         Educate, entertain and inspire visitors through their place, permanent collections, temporary exhibitions, events, education work and site-specific performances which reflect the organisation’s purpose and mission

–         Which conserve, protect, create and present our nation’s heritage and cultural assets

–         Receive more than 1 million visits in a calendar year to their sites (either single sites or collectively as a corporately managed multi-site organisation

            or as members of an attraction-specific marketing association or entity), and to attraction-specific events based at their sites

–         Which are permanently established

–         Are of national significance

–         Open to the general public, either paying or free

–         Which are committed to continually improving their visitor experience and welcome

–         Which have catering and retail provision (for benchmarking purposes).

 

Applications for, or enquiries about membership are welcome, please get in touch.

 

Membership benefits:

We have three Council meetings per year, held at our members’ venues, at which members and expert guests present on trends and insights and share information and experience. These meetings are mostly attended by CEOs, Directors, Marketing and Communications Directors and Visitor Experience Directors.

We have a number of professional groups which we have established for members at which members hear from each other, discuss topics of interest, share experiences and insights and hear from experts; each of the groups meets six-monthly:

Finance Directors

HR Directors

Development and Fundraising Directors

Membership and Friends' Scheme Managers

Education Managers

Event Managers

Commercial Managers

Heads of Security

ALVA London members

ALVA Scottish members

Ticketing Issues Forum

We hold a number of seminars each year on topics ranging from membership and friends’ schemes, crisis management and digital media. 

We also have a number of public affairs lunches and briefings throughout the year attended by members and guests from the media, business and politics. All of these events and participation in the themed groups are included in the membership subscription.

 

Additionally we provide a visitor experience benchmarking service, delivered for us by BDRC Continental, and a financial benchmarking service, delivered for us by Lesley Morisetti Associates; these are at additional cost. 

 

<< Back