The Director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), Bernard Donoghue, has been a dynamic leader through the pandemic on behalf of UK attractions.
Donoghue has been the Director of ALVA for almost ten years. The association represents the most important and popular attractions in the UK, covering three main sectors, museums and galleries, gardens & leisure and heritage & cathedrals.
Providing inspired leadership through the pandemic, Donoghue has commissioned and shared vital audience research to inform opening plans, has convened and chaired weekly panels of experts and peers to share their plans and been very visible on social media. His support and collaborative approach has been hugely helpful in this most difficult year.
Donoghue is an outstanding and tireless advocate for the sector, regularly meeting with government ministers and appearing on multiple media channels.
In May 2017 he was appointed to the Mayor of London‘s Cultural Leadership Board and is the Mayor’s Ambassador for Cultural Tourism. Among a number of other high profile roles Donoghue is also Chairman of the award-winning London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), Chairman of the Ambassadors’ Council of WWF-UK and Deputy Chairman and Trustee of Kids in Museums.