Member Article

UK cultural sector explores Olympic opportunities

The UK’s culture sector is gearing up to take full advantage of the London Olympics 2012, through a national convention.

The National Trust, English Heritage, Historic Royal Palaces, The V&A, Tate, British Museum and National Gallery are among over 100 organisations who will be present at the Association for Cultural Enterprises 13th Annual Convention & Exhibition.

Spread over two days in Brighton, the event will draw together senior industry figures in a bid to pool knowledge and ideas on how the sector can maximise opportunities presented by the Games.

It will focus on how the sector can engage and attract an estimated four million additional overseas visitors, with the backdrop of recession and no additional government funding.

John Stachiewicz, Chairman of ACE and Publisher and Head of Media Group, National Trust, said: “Heritage remains the most cited reason for people to visit Britain and currently renders a turnover of in excess of £1 billion a year.

“The Olympics present the perfect opportunity to boost this figure significantly, which is why it is important that we have the necessary knowledge, skills and ideas to effectively engage with overseas visitors. The ACE Convention will help the sector to do that.”

Senior industry figures in attendance will include Baroness Andrews, Chairman of English Heritage and Janita Bagshawe, head of museums and director at the Royal Pavilion.

Laura Wright, CEO of Tate Enterprises, and a judge of the prestigious Best Product Awards, said: “The Convention is very timely this year with museums organising their programmes around the Olympics.

“We need to get thinking about how we can best display our attractions and gear our products to the UK inbound visitors so that they return.

“The convention will build confidence, skills and generate ideas about how to do that.”

The convention is to be followed by the biggest UK heritage retail trade fair, showcasing suppliers in the cultural heritage sector.

Robert Carr-Archer, Director of Trading at The National Portrait Gallery and an ambassador of ACE said: “In tough economic times, our unique cultural and heritage sector is well placed to buck the trend with products that stand out and are easily accessible to people.

“Whether it’s the Olympics or the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the country has some wonderful opportunities to capitalise on these strengths this year and we need to make sure we are at the top of our game so our offer is as appealing as it should be.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .