Speakers

Speakersneil22025-05-06T16:01:21+01:00

THE NATIONAL ATTRACTIONS MARKETING CONFERENCE 2025

DRAYTON MANOR THEME PARK & RESORT
THURSDAY 5th JUNE 2025

Laura Baxter

Head of Mktg, Blackgang Chine

Alex Caley

Head of Marketing, Continuum

Abby Cronje

Sales & Marketing, Drayton Manor

Liz Dimes

Digital Mktg Director, Agility Mktg

Martin Evans

MD, The Tourism Business

Luke Flynn

Old Royal Naval College Greenwich

George Follett

Managing Director, Ticket Tailor

Ben Fry

The Potions Cauldron

Paul Kelly

Chief Executive, BALPPA

Neil Lewin

Managing Director, Semantic

Ben Meakin

Head of Performance & Social

Ian Miller

CEO, Crafted

Kelly Molson

Director, Kelly Molson Consulting

Chris Morris

Sales Manager, Sky Adsmart

Helen Nurse

Director, Capture 1

Anthony Rawlins

Chief Executive, Navigate

Georgie Sykes

Marketing & PR, Castle Howard

Jonathan Taylor

Sales & Mktg Mngr, Phantom Peak

Seren Welch

Director, SW Consulting

Nik Wyness

Head of Marketing, Tank Museum

Attractions Marketing Conference 2019

Attractions Marketing Conference 2019

Attractions Marketing Conference 2019

Attractions Marketing Conference 2019

Attractions Marketing Conference 2019

Attractions Marketing Conference 2019

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Tel: 0770 291 2938 | Email: conference@thetourismbusiness.com

Head of Mktg, Blackgang Chine

Laura Baxter

Head of Marketing, Blackgang Chine

Laura is the dynamic Head of Marketing at Blackgang Chine, situated on the picturesque Isle of Wight. With a passion for storytelling and innovation, she spearheads a strategy that captivates audiences, drives engagement, and most importantly converts. Laura has enhanced Blackgang Chine’s presence as a premier attraction, gaining them national coverage on the likes of This Morning and Channel 5’s Isle of Wight Jewel of the South.

Before moving to the Island two years ago, Laura worked for the Partyman Group, who own multiple Essex based attractions. Her knowledge on attraction marketing was flipped on its head when faced with an island attraction that is solely reliant on tourism.

Head of Marketing, Continuum

Alex Caley

Head of Marketing, Continuum Attractions

Alex leads both the central and on-site marketing teams across a portfolio of award-winning visitor attractions throughout the UK. A psychology graduate and Chartered Marketer, Alex combines strategic oversight with a deep passion for understanding the behavioural science behind effective marketing. While firmly grounded in brand and commercial strategy, Alex is also fascinated by the subtle psychological nudges that shape customer behaviour, and how small changes in messaging, design and delivery can lead to meaningful uplifts in results.

Before joining Continuum, Alex’s career spanned television production, running large-scale live music events such as Party in the Park (with audiences of 70,000+), and the marketing of super-regional shopping and leisure destinations. Over the past three years, Alex has helped drive the success across Continuum’s eight attractions, with highlights including a 30% increase in fans visiting across ITV’s Coronation Street Experience and Emmerdale Village Tour, The Real Mary King’s Close being named the UK’s No.1 Visitor Attraction by TripAdvisor in 2023, and the acquisition and relaunch of The Loch Ness Centre.

Sales & Marketing, Drayton Manor

Abby Cronje

Sales & Marketing Director, Drayton Manor Theme Park & Resort

Abby has been Director of Sales & Marketing at Drayton Manor since April 2024. She has a proven track record and broad experience across the marketing spectrum including brand management, strategic planning, digital marketing and content management.

Prior to that enjoyed an extensive career in visitor attractions marketing in the UAE, including time as Marketing Director of Dubai Holding Entertainment, Director of Sales & Marketing for Inside Burj Al Arab, Head of Marketing for MOTIONGATE Dubai, and Marketing Director for Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi.

Digital Mktg Director, Agility Mktg

Liz Dimes

Digital Marketing Director, Agility Marketing

Liz is a Digital Marketing Director for visitor attraction specialist, Agility Marketing and the lead behind their digital advertising and conversion optimisation strategies. She boasts over a decade of experience in delivering tangible results. With a relentless drive for results she has steered impressive returns for clients across the attraction industry.

Liz is excited about new technology and dedicated to staying ahead of the curve; leveraging emerging technologies to maximise digital performance. With a proven track record of driving footfall and revenue growth, Liz is looking forward to sharing her unparalleled expertise, that ensures her clients stay out in front.

MD, The Tourism Business

Martin Evans

Managing Partner, The Tourism Business

Martin has worked in marketing consultancy with a wide range of visitor attractions since launching the York-based consultancy The Tourism Business. Prior to that, Martin’s career included positions as Marketing Director at Yorkshire Tourist Board (where he worked with over 400 visitor attractions) and Head of Marketing at Consort Hotels Group.

As a marketing consultancy, The Tourism Business has built up an impressive public and private sector client list, comprising over 150 of the UK’s leading destinations, attractions, hotels and leisure companies. Clients in the attractions sector have included Beamish Museum, the Black Country Living Museum, the British Council, Heritage Trust for the North West, the National Forest, Scarborough Museums and The Attractions of Snowdonia.

Old Royal Naval College Greenwich

Luke Flynn

Estate Operations Manager, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

Luke is the Estate Operations Manager at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, where he’s been since January 2022. From initial reccy visits to overseeing the smooth delivery of on-site shoots, Luke ensures that the historic integrity of the site is balanced with the dynamic needs of the filmmakers. Prior to his current role, Luke served as an officer in the Royal Navy covering Defence Relations, Communications & Events. In earlier roles, he served as a Warfare Officer working in frontline units in a Maritime navigation capacity.

The Old Royal Naval College is the UK’s no.1 heritage filming location with over 200 productions filmed on site over the last 100 years. Since joining the team, Luke has overseen filming for; George Clooney’s ‘Boys in the Boat’, Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ and Netflix/ Shondaland’s Bridgerton, to name a few.

Managing Director, Ticket Tailor

George Follett

Managing Director, Ticket Tailor

George is the MD of Ticket Tailor, where he leads the commercial strategy for one of the world’s leading independent ticketing platforms. Founded in 2011, Ticket Tailor is proud to be a certified B Corp, putting business for good at the heart of everything it does. In 2024 alone, Ticket Tailor partnered with over 50,000 event organisers worldwide, supporting an incredibly diverse range of events and issuing millions of tickets every month.

George is passionate about building businesses that deliver a positive impact – for employees, customers, and society – by finding the sweet spot between profit and purpose. After starting his career in strategy consulting, he transitioned into the events marketing and ticketing space, helping to drive 5x growth in Ticket Tailor’s business over the past five years.

The Potions Cauldron

Ben Fry

The Potions Cauldron is the maker of magical drinks and creator of magical experiences with 10 venues across the UK providing a Wizard experience and a chance to enjoy one of 7 magical potion drinks. The business is led by Chief Enchantment Officer Ben Fry, Director of Wizardry Phil Pinder and Grand Supreme Wizard Stuart Jarman. In 2023 the business was featured on Dragon’s Den and turned down Peter Jones biggest ever cash offer as he wasn’t magical enough!

In 2024 a magical match up occurred as The Potions Cauldron teamed up with Disney to make drinks for the new Haunted Mansion parlour on Disney Cruise Line and now in 2025 to go from Wizards to Heroes to launch a new range of MARVEL soft drinks.

Later in the year the Wizard expansion will continue with a new venue in Leeds which will be the biggest to date for the Wizard entrepreneurs.

Chief Executive, BALPPA

Paul Kelly

Chief Executive, BALPPA

Having been with BALPPA for 11 years and working with VAC for that amount of time as well, Paul started his career in the attractions sector at Thorpe Park in the 80’s and then moved on to the London Eye for its opening around the millennium. He has always been involved with visitor attractions. Several more years working within Merlin followed both in the UK and abroad, mainly on business development. Being a BALPPA member for 30 years and being Chair of the organising committee at VAC, the national Visitor Attractions Conference, keeps Paul in touch with all aspects of the attractions industry.

Managing Director, Semantic

Neil Lewin

Managing Director, Semantic

Neil is the owner of Semantic, an award-winning agency that brings attraction, leisure and tourism brands to life online. They help attractions grow, build awareness and drive revenue through bespoke websites, strategic support and their new LOOP platform.

Neil’s career has seen him help leading attraction brands in the UK and around the world, including Merlin Entertainments, The Dungeons, Yorkshire Wildlife Park, The National Space Centre, Twycross Zoo and Crystal Maze.

Head of Performance & Social

Ben Meakin

Head of Performance & Social, Linney

Ben is an award-winning digital marketer with over 10 years’ experience both in-house and agency side. He has worked across a variety of sectors including higher education, care, transport, and family attractions. Now found leading the Performance & Social Team at Linney, working with the biggest brands in the world such as McDonald’s.

CEO, Crafted

Ian Miller

CEO, Crafted

Since the early days of search marketing, Ian’s passion for driving business growth has seen him support a vast array of brands to navigate the evolving world of digital. As Crafted’s CEO, he has established the agency as a powerhouse in the digital space, forging a path of industry recognition and success for clients such as The Natural History Museum, Imperial War Museums and The British Museum. Ian has inspired a variety of audiences at industry conferences, covering thought-provoking themes such as the future of marketing and sustainability in digital.

Director, Kelly Molson Consulting

Kelly Molson

Director, Kelly Molson Consulting

Kelly founded Rubber Cheese, a user focused web design and development agency for the attraction sector. Whilst Kelly ran Rubber Cheese, they were Digital partners to Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, Pensthorpe, National Parks UK, Holkham, Visit Cambridge and The National Marine Aquarium. Kelly regularly delivers workshops and presentations on sector focused topics at national conferences and attraction sector organisations including ASVA, ALVA, The Ticketing Professionals Conference and the Museum + Heritage Show. And as host of the popular Skip the Queue Podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions, she spoke with inspiring industry experts who share their knowledge of what really makes an attraction successful.

Sales Manager, Sky Adsmart

Chris Morris

Sales Manager, Sky Adsmart

Having worked in media for just short of 2 decades, Chris has been planning campaigns across Press, Radio, OOH and most recently TV. Having joined the Adsmart From Sky Team, Chris makes sure advertisers are reaching their perfect audience by using data to run targeted TV campaigns. AdSmart from Sky has helped thousands of businesses across the UK to access the unrivalled power of TV advertising. It allows businesses of all shapes and sizes to benefit from a most trusted and effective way to advertise.

Director, Capture 1

Helen Nurse

Director, Capture 1

Helen is the founder of Capture 1, a digital agency she has run for over 25 years. With early roots in television, her agency went on to specialise in video production and interactive media for marketing, training, and events. Alongside this, Helen ran immersive live children’s and Christmas events for five years, partnering with family attractions and venues across the UK. Between 2000 and 2022, she also delivered hundreds of online live events for thousands of families, working with brands like the Co-op and The Scouts Association. Today, Helen specialises in WhatsApp and social messaging strategies that help events and attractions communicate smarter, boost engagement, and create more meaningful visitor experiences through real-time, interactive messaging.

Chief Executive, Navigate

Anthony Rawlins

Chief Executive, Navigate (formerly Digital Visitor)

Anthony is the driving force behind Navigate, an award-winning marketing consultancy dedicated to growing visitors, revenue, and impact for attractions. With a legacy spanning over two decades, Anthony guides organisations in growth, helping them craft their unique success stories. Anthony is renowned for his keen foresight, making him a sought-after keynote speaker for trend predictions and invaluable insights.

Marketing & PR, Castle Howard

Georgie Sykes

Marketing and PR Manager at Castle Howard

Georgie is the Marketing & PR Manager at Castle Howard, the world-famous stately home and visitor attraction in North Yorkshire. Georgie’s background in theatre has informed creative marketing campaigns and strategies promoting cultural experiences that start at the very first interaction, and she has delivered award-winning marketing and brand campaigns across the arts and attractions industries. Georgie has worked in marketing and media at Leeds Playhouse in West Yorkshire, Tapestry Opera in Toronto, and now Castle Howard, whose much-loved Christmas events have grown exponentially in recent years, delighting over 100,000 visitors in 2024.

Sales & Mktg Mngr, Phantom Peak

Jonathan Taylor

Senior Sales & Marketing Manager, Phantom Peak

Jonathan leads the marketing team at Phantom Peak, Londo n’s only open-world immersive experience. Phantom Peak has a cult following, with a superfan community of over 1,000 active users. Utilising data, building community, and ‘just having fun’ is the backbone of what drives results.
Jonathan started out working across West End & UK touring theatre with the prestigious Bill Kenwright on productions including Heathers the Musical, Blood Brothers, and Saturday Night Fever. More recently, Jonathan has started working on immersive experiences including Mamma Mia! The Party, The War of The Worlds and now Phantom Peak.

Director, SW Consulting

Seren Welch

Director, SW Consulting – Screen Tourism Specialist

Seren has over 25 years’ experience across tourism marketing and a track record in promoting destinations through screen tourism. While at VisitBritiain, she led on all consumer product development, which included delivering global campaigns from Harry Potter to Downton Abbey and Bond. Over the last 12 years, Seren has worked closely with the US Broadcaster WGBH Masterpiece (PBS), assisting them in bringing to life the locations narrative for some of the UKs best loved dramas, such as Downton Abbey, Victoria, Mr Selfridge, Sherlock, Poldark and All Creatures Great and Small. In addition, her focus has been assisting destinations with product development and building partnerships, helping them benefit from film releases and the rise in High End TV opportunities.

Head of Marketing, Tank Museum

Nik Wyness

Head of Marketing, The Tank Museum

Nik has pioneered a groundbreaking income diversification strategy for a not-for-profit regimental museum, which now generates 25% of its total turnover online from non-visitors. To overcome the limitations to audience growth imposed by its rural location, Nik used the power of social media to take the museum to the audience. And in doing so, he connected it with a global online community of subject enthusiasts, from which it generated over £2m last year.

Central to this success is The Tank Museum’s industry leading YouTube presence. With over 400m views and 1.2m subscribers, it is one of the biggest museum channels in the world. The nurturing of its online audiences into “fans” allowed The Tank Museum to grow its e-commerce turnover from £190,000 in 2019 to £1.2m in 2020 during the pandemic – with growth continuing since.