20 August 2010
Dream launch for VisitEngland’s newest national quality
scheme
The landmark 20-metre Dream sculpture in St.Helens has been
selected by VisitEngland to launch its prestigious new national
Place of Interest Quality Assurance Scheme (PIQAS).
PIQAS has been developed by VisitEngland to enhance quality and
spread best practice within the Tourism sector. The service offers
a consumer focused quality assessment, helping to identify
strengths and highlight development areas for England’s attractions
and places of interest.
Dream, created by internationally renowned artist Jaume Plensa
and which starred in Channel 4’s prime time Big Art TV series in
2009, is one of the UK’s most significant recent public artworks
and has become the first attraction in the Northwest to gain this
new VisitEngland accreditation.
This national profile and regional first are a fitting
reflection of Dream’s ever-growing prominence since its launch in
May 2009, having been developed with the close involvement of
former miners on a former colliery site, overlooking the M62
motorway where it is passed by millions of vehicles a year.
PIQAS marks another accolade to the spectacular artwork’s
growing haul of awards and commendations, which include the 2009
Marsh Sculpture Prize, and a 2010 Civic Trust Award, plus the
Special Award for Community Engagement.
Representatives from VisitEngland, the Northwest Regional
Development Agency (NWDA), The Mersey Partnership, St.Helens
Council, the Forestry Commission and the St.Helens Tourism and
Leisure Business Network gathered at the Dream site in Sutton Manor
to unveil the PIQAS scheme on Friday 20th August.
James Berresford, Chief Executive, VisitEngland, stated: “We are
delighted to launch PIQAS at Dream in view of its regional,
national and international significance.
PIQAS is a valuable management and marketing tool for all places
of interest and smaller attractions. This new VisitEngland
assessment scheme provides places of interest across the country
with a recognised stamp of approval whether they are volunteer-run,
charity organisations, unmanned sites or natural features in the
landscape.
We hope this launch encourages places of interest across the
country to sign up to the scheme and showcase their attractions to
visitors worldwide.”
Nick Brooks-Sykes, Director of Tourism at the NWDA, commented:
“PIQAS is an excellent programme, providing a professional
assessment of attractions and operations from a visitor’s
perspective to assist ongoing development.
“As a new gateway feature for the Liverpool City Region and the
Northwest as a whole, Dream is an ideal place to launch and promote
this new scheme. I hope many other Northwest attractions will
follow suit to embrace the new scheme and engage in continuous
improvement and quality accreditation.”
Councillor Barrie Grunewald, Cabinet Member for Culture,
Communications and Town Centre at St.Helens Council added: “We are
delighted that England’s national tourism agency VisitEngland has
selected Dream in to host the launch of its newest quality
assurance scheme, given the artwork’s important role in boosting
tourism as a vital part of the economic development of
St.Helens.
“This reinforces Dream’s significance as a forward-looking
symbol of the positive transformation of St.Helens and the wider
region, while highlighting the recognition the sculpture is gaining
nationally and internationally for its artistic, technical,
regeneration and tourism merits.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For all press enquiries, please contact Chris Cahill on 01744
676 166 or e-mail chriscahill@sthelens.gov.uk
PIQAS and Visit England for more info see www.enjoyengland.com
• PIQAS has been developed by Visit England to enhance
quality and spread best practice within the Tourism sector. The
service offers a consumer focused quality assessment, helping to
identify strengths and highlight development areas.
• PIQAS is a valuable management and marketing tool for all
places of interest and smaller attraction operators. The service
meets the needs of places of interest and smaller attractions
whether volunteer run, charity organisations, unmanned sites or
natural features in the landscape.
• Benefits include a biennial site visit to assess all aspects
of the visitor experience from pre-visit information; website,
promotional material right through to the visit itself taking into
account signage, interpretation, parking and ease of movement
around the site. A written report is then provided which
includes the key observations and recommendations provided by an
industry experience assessor.
• Visit England is the strategic leadership body
representing the public and private sector stakeholders of English
Tourism. It works in partnership with VisitBritain, the
Regional Development Agencies and local authorities, and the
private sector, creating a national tourism strategy, optimising
marketing investment, and developing the visitor experience across
England.
• Visit England’s role is to be the custodian of the
England tourism strategy and the authority for tourism in
England.
Dream - for more info. see www.dreamsthelens.com
• Dream was commissioned and delivered by St.Helens Council
in conjunction with Channel 4’s Big Art Project, an ambitious
public art initiative supported by Arts Council England, the
national development agency for the arts, and The Art Fund, the
UK’s leading independent art charity.
• Curated by Liverpool Biennial, Dream was also generously
funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, the Merseyside
Objective 1 ERDF Programme, Forestry Commission, the Northwest
Coalfield Communities Regeneration Programme, and the St.Helens
Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.
• A group of ex-miners from the former Sutton Manor
Colliery where Dream is sited played a direct and integral role in
the commissioning and development of the artwork, which was
unveiled on 31 May 2009.
St.Helens-for more info. see www.investinsthelens.com
& www.visitsthelens.com
• St.Helens’ prime connectivity, catchment and low cost
base at the heart of the Northwest's motorway network, midway
between Liverpool and Manchester and their respective airports, are
key factors in its dramatic transformation as a regional location
of choice for businesses, residents and visitors alike.
• Since April 2006 the St.Helens Local Enterprise Growth
Initiative has helped start up more than 1,350 new businesses,
create over 2,880 jobs new into employment, and generate £42million
worth of new business for local firms.
• 2010 Virgin Money research deemed St.Helens the most
car-friendly location in the whole of the UK.
• A 2008 national survey named St.Helens as the “happiest”
place to live on Merseyside, 2nd happiest in the Northwest, and
14th in Britain.
• St.Helens is over 55% rural and the designated lead for
the Liverpool City Region on rural economic development (see
www.merseyreap.co.uk).
• St.Helens Council was awarded dual Beacon Council status
in 2009 for “Delivering Economic Prosperity through Partnership”
and “Building Homes for the Future”.
• St.Helens Council’s Economic Development Team manages and
delivers key elements of the "City Growth Strategy" (see www.sthelenscgs.com) – the
private sector led business plan for the economic development of
“St.Helens plc” comprising 90 projects with a combined value of
£1.8billion.
Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA)
The Northwest Regional Development Agency works to deliver
economic success in England’s Northwest by building the
competitiveness of businesses, people and places. The Agency is the
strategic lead for tourism in the Northwest and works with the
region’s five tourist boards to support and grow our £13 billion
visitor economy. For further information visit www.nwda.co.uk