National Attractions Marketing Conference 2024 — Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor Theme Park & Resort, Staffordshire · One inspirational day, in person
The 2024 National Attractions Marketing Conference brought the UK visitor attractions marketing community together for a full day of ideas, advice and practical tips at Drayton Manor Theme Park & Resort — one of the country’s leading theme parks. Hosted by founder Martin Evans, the day delivered hundreds of marketing ideas across a packed programme of keynotes, seminars and panels, with plenty of time built in for networking with fellow attractions marketers.
The morning opened with a keynote from Abbi Ollive (Visitor Attraction Director, Castle Howard) on what it means to be a marketing specialist today, followed by practical sessions on marketing with a limited budget with Josh Torlop (Trentham Monkey Forest), growth and positive impact insights from Anthony Rawlins (Navigate), and a panel on targeting tourists versus locals featuring Paul Kelly (BALPPA), Laura Baxter (Blackgang Chine) and Claire Packer (Black Country Living Museum).
After lunch, Bernard Donoghue OBE (CEO, ALVA) delivered the afternoon keynote, with parallel seminar streams spanning AI for attractions, embracing uncharted ticketing territory, and brand-building. The day closed with a future-forecasting panel looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, before an informal drinks reception.
Delegates also heard from speakers including Catherine Warrilow (The Plot), Samantha L Fay (Layered Reality), Nikki Smith (The Visitor Marketing Consultancy), Simon Jones (Navigate), Neil Lewin (Semantic), Sarah Bagg (ReWork Consulting), Lucy Jarjoura (Wake The Tiger), Liz Dimes (Agility Marketing) and Lisa Leigh (English National Ballet).
With thanks to the 2024 sponsors and partners who made the day possible — Navigate, Semantic and The Visitor Marketing Consultancy as main sponsors; Agility Marketing, n-gage.io and Smeetz as Gold Sponsors; and exhibitor-partners Attractions.io, Fluro Attractions, Shine Design & Digital and Travelzoo.
