Visit England working on Quality Mark to give reassurance on re-opening
The fantastic weather over the past few weeks saw several UK attractions opening their gardens and grounds, a first tentative step to re-opening fully.
For those not able to do this, we’re seeing ongoing activity and plans put in place for a potential re-opening date of July 4th.
Building trust
One thing for sure, when visitor attractions open, will be the importance of trust. Visitors are going to want to know you’re adhering to any imposed guidelines and restrictions before they plan on coming to see you.
In the software industry where we operate, there’s a variety of trust marks, for example the “ISO27001” which is given to software organisations who uphold the highest standards of information security. In the software industry, buyers are much more likely to purchase from vendors with this trust mark, as it helps buyers adhere to their own security standards.
Another example of a quality mark is the widely used ‘Red Tractor – Food Standards’ label on food in supermarkets, assuring consumers that high animal welfare standards have been upheld in the production of a product.
Visit England Quality Mark
It might seem simple, or a ‘check box’ exercise, however the importance of trust post Covid is not something to be underestimated, and that’s why we’re pleased to see Visit England have begun the process of creating a quality mark of their own, for visitor attractions to obtain before re-opening.
This will be a big step forward in helping visitors feel they can safely return to attractions. Attractions will be able to apply to be assessed and it’s expected that a logo and certification will be made available for attractions to use on their website and marketing materials.
The "mark”, expected to launch around 8th June will cover attractions in England. We expect more news about plans for Wales and Scotland to follow over the coming weeks.
Visit England have also suggested that a marketing campaign will be launched to spread the word about visitor attractions that have obtained the mark and have therefore been accredited as safe to open.
Sharing best practice
Visit England have asked for attractions to share best practice to support the sector as a whole – if you’ve anything to share please email Visit England.
Support available from The Access Group
At Access, our Visitor Attractions experts are working closely with our customers, innovating and adapting processes ready for opening. For those who didn’t have the ability to before, we’re working on how they can limit contact with visitors through pre-booked tickets and timed entry tickets.
Version 1.0 of our guide to Welcoming your visitors after lockdown has been read by over 250 attractions so far and had great feedback from ASVA, The VE:FORUM and Visit Scotland.
