New horizons for church tourism
A new national tourism initiative is about to be unveiled in November. It will result in a much higher profile being given to Church Tourism by national and international tourist bodies.
Work on the new marketing strategy Sacred Britain: Tourism and Places of Worship has been sponsored by VisitBritain, with the support of several other national bodies. It will formally be launched at the Churches Tourism Association’s National Convention to be held at The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire, Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 November 2006.
For many years there has not been enough emphasis placed by national tourist authorities on the great potential offered by sacred sites for attracting new visitors both from home and overseas. The broad spectrum of sites covers historic places such as Iona, Lindisfarne, Holywell and Walsingham plus cathedrals, churches, chapels and meeting houses to synagogues, mosques and other religious shrines and sacred sites – some well known, others not so.
Contributory bodies represented on the working party for the strategy have included The Civic Trust, The Churches Conservation Trust, The Tourism Society, The Church of England and The Methodist Church, as well as VisitBritain. The idea was to explore the whole range of church tourism and identify aspects where improvements could be made in areas such as marketing and promotion, security, training, signposting, interpretation and other information, organisation of events and the general welcoming of visitors to the many sacred sites which can be visited.
It is therefore most pertinent that the next National Convention of The Churches Tourism Association should be exploring the theme Experiencing Sacred Britain and, in the company of leaders in the field, will examine and debate current thinking and learn from recent research and practical case studies. It should prove a unique development opportunity for everyone with an interest in the future value and growth in faith tourism. These can include church and other sacred site operators;
those from individual churches who are looking to attract more visitors and improve the visitor experience; faith groups and others which link to the tourism as a product; tourism professionals and destination managers; group and travel organisers; those involved in heritage, culture and the arts; plus academic and research bodies together with people who operate in and with a remit for the historic built, natural and rural environment.
Keynote speakers will include The Rt Hon David Lammy MP, Minister for Culture at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Tom Wright, Chief Executive of VisitBritain; The Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chairman of The Churches Conservation Trust; and The Rt Revd Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich.
For further details, contact: Verity Stroud, CTA Convention 2006, c/o The Churches Conservation Trust, 1 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9EE, tel. 020 7213 0685 or by email:
VStroud@tcct.org.uk
Keith Cheetham Churches Tourism Association
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