St.Helens Dream sculpture face of Visit England tourism scheme

23rd August 2010

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.”