The third National Conference of Visitor Attractions (VAC2006) took place yesterday (11 October) at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in London.

The annual event is organised on a not-for-profit basis by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) ), VisitBritain, Attractions Management and the Visitor Attractions Forum (VAF). This year’s gathering included a keynote speech by Lord Marshall, chair of VisitBritain, and the ‘Big Debate’ featuring a number of industry leaders.

Sir Neil Cossons, chair of English Heritage, opened the conference by calling for Britain’s visitor attractions to continue capturing the attention of visitors and win political recognition and support.

“Most of Britain’s attractions are an integral part of the fabric of our nation,” he said. “They provide entertainment, enlightenment and inspiration for today’s and tomorrow’s visitors and are an invaluable asset for future generations.

Lord Lee of Trafford, chair of ALVA, made a passionate plea for the tourism and attractions industries to make sure they lobby government ‘at the very top’.

The Liberal Democrat peer and former Conservative tourism minister said: “What we have to realise is that only when we manage to get through to the axis of power between the Prime Minister and the chancellor of the exchequer will we be able to see any changes in the policies that affect us.

“We have totally failed as an industry to make an impact to influence this axis – despite the considerable size of our sector. I suggest we prepare a campaign – called Take Tourism Seriously – and make sure we lobby the leaders of all parties prior to the next general election,” he said.

Seminars at this year’s conference included topics on legislation, the Olympics, benchmarking and Gift Aid.

Ken Robinson, chair of the Visitor Attractions Forum, said: “Despite distractions such as the World Cup and the summer heatwave, 2006 has been a good year for the industry – for established and iconic attractions but also for lesser-known properties.”