ARA Northern Event: Archives and Tourism: what can they do for each other?
Do archive services have a significant contribution to make to tourism? And is this limited to family history or can we play a part in local or topic related visitor attractions? Join our session to find out.
Tuesday 19 September 2023 at 2pm to 3.45pm (Online)
Although this session is being organised by the Northern Region, we welcome participants from all the ARA’s nations, regions and sections.
To book your place contact Paul Stebbing: PaulStebbing@barnsley.gov.uk
Please note that this session may be recorded for the ARA Northern Region web pages of the ARA website.
2pm Welcome and session introduction. David Mander
2.10 Ivor Stollliday, former Chair, Visit Durham
2.30 Canal and River Trust, National Waterways Archive and Museum.
The Easter Gathering event. Louise Bruton, former Canal and River Trust Archives Manager The Easter Gathering is held annually at the Museum at Ellesmere Port and is the largest UK event on historic narrowboats and the history of the canal network. As such it presents a huge opportunity for the Archives and Museum.
2.50 Insights from Ancestral Tourism to Scotland. Noelle Campbell, Scottish Connections Manager, VisitScotland
This session will look at what ancestral tourism actually is, the importance of ancestral visits to the Scottish tourism industry, and how individual businesses and organisations are supported in ensuring that they are ready to welcome ancestral visitors. It will also look at lessons from the Scottish experience which can provide insights for other destinations seeking to benefit from ancestral tourism.
3.10 Ancestral tourism at the Watt Institution. Lorraine Murray, Archivist at the Watt Institute, Inverclyde Council
Greenock was once the principal port on the Scottish west coast for emigration and immigration. Today cruise ships visit regularly and many tourists have an interest in family history.
3.30 Discussion
3.45 Session close
Speaker biographies
Louise Bruton has worked in archives since 2006 in a variety of roles and was recently the Canal and River Trust Archives Manager. She is currently the Archivist and Curator for the Institute of Popular Music at the University of Liverpool and is the Northern Region’s Secretary.
Noelle Campbell is VisitScotland’s Scottish Connections Manager, responsible for the design and implementation of tourism strategies aimed at engaging the many different groups coming from overseas with a connection to or an affinity with Scotland. This includes promotion of ancestral tourism and relationships with the global diaspora community. She also works on collaborative projects with Scottish Government and other partners on overseas initiatives focused on diaspora, alumni and cultural partners, and has previously worked in various sectors within the tourism industry
Lorraine Murray is the Archivist for Inverclyde Council based at the Watt Institution In Greenock and is celebrating 10 years of the Archive service being operational.
Ivor Stolliday began his working life teaching in a US and then a British university, going on to a variety of senior management roles at ITV. After restructuring at ITV in the early 1990s he went on to become Chief Executive at the Dartington Hall Trust, an Educational charity based in Devon. On retirement he was interim CEO for the Baltic centre for Contemporary Arts at Gateshead and also undertook a number of chairing roles, including fourteen years as Chair of Visit County Durham. He was also a member of the Chapter of Durham Cathedral and remains Canon Emeritus of the Cathedral. Ivor has also been active in the archive world. He was the Founding Chair of the South West Film and Television Archive Trust, served a seven year spell as Chair of Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives Trust, was responsible for the private archive at Dartington Hall Trust and at Durham Cathedral supported the development of the archive and library, which includes the two Magna Cartas.