Tony Berry has been with the National Trust since the early 1990s, working regionally and nationally in PR, marketing, commercial development and learning. As Visitor Experience Director, he’s now responsible for the strategic direction of the Trust’s visitor-facing operations. In his session, he will discussing how the Trust is meeting the ‘challenge of change’ whilst still trying to remain the largest membership organisation in the United Kingdom.
Tell is a bit about your background and your work at the National Trust
I’ve been with the Trust for nearly 25 years, and couldn’t wish for a nicer organisation to work for. My role is to help our places (more than 500 of them) give a brilliant welcome and a great experience to everyone who visits – and to help them ensure that the experiences we offer continue to evolve to keep up with what our visitors want. That means we need to constantly improve our service and find new ways to make our places interesting, exciting and appealing. There are a lot of places to visit out there doing fabulous and inventive things, and our visitors’ expectations are constantly rising!
Where’s one of your favourite places to visit in the UK?
Churchill said “every day away from Chartwell is a day wasted”, and I feel very much the same about Shropshire. I love the town of Shrewsbury, and my favourite National Trust place is nearby Attingham Park. Like all of our best places, it’s somewhere I never tire of going back to
As a largely respected British institution, why is it so important to consider visitor experiences?
We’re here to make people’s lives better by caring for special places for them to enjoy – that’s our charitable purpose. We believe very strongly that access to extraordinary places – to beauty, culture and the natural environment – is essential for people’s wellbeing, so great visitor experience is core to everything we’re trying to achieve. That means great service, excellent presentation and lots of opportunities for everyone to enjoy places in their own way – whether that’s going for a walk or a run, learning new things from an exhibition or a beautifully displayed collection, getting closer to nature or just having fun.
What are the main takeaways from your session at The British Tourism & Travel Show?
An insight into how the organisation that welcomes more visitors than anyone else is having to change and adapt to people’s rapidly changing expectations – and hopefully, I’ll be able to share some useful learning from the things that haven’t gone so well!
Why are trade shows like The British Tourism & Travel Show a great event for the industry to attend?
None of us has all the answers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s the importance of learning from others, collaborating, working in partnership and being open to new ideas from outside your own organisation. Any event that helps you to connect with so many different ideas, perspectives and potential new people to work with has to be a great thing
Tony Berry’s session titled ‘The National Trust; the same but different’ will take place in the Keynote Theatre on Thursday 21 March at 10.30am – 11.15am.