So far I have tried to explain what I see to be the three main principles of a successful cultural heritage strategy

- the increasingly developing political agenda of culture within Europe

- the importance of the cultural tourism industry

- the importance of the local community’s perception of and involvement in the cultural heritage of their own area

Let me now see if I can provide some specific examples of each of these aspects from the direct experience of Manx National Heritage.

The first task in any situation is to define what is the nature of the experience which your resource base is capable of supporting and what is the "unique marketable quality" that it is capable of sustaining. Secondly, from our particular cultural point of view, does history, culture, and environment combine (or can it be made to combine) in a way which can be presented as that unique quality.

The Isle of Man, like very many of Britain's traditional sea-side resorts is desperately struggling to identify its new tourist community as the old market's death-throes create a very unsettled time. The problems and opportunities we are facing in the context of this changing market have, I would suggest, more than an insular significance.

The last twenty five years have seen a deep-rooted structural change in the traditional tourist market and in a changing market, a vicious spiral of decline can quickly develop. Low demand leads to low prices which lead to low standards. As the market dwindles, visitors are offered the incitement of even lower prices in a vain attempt to attract custom for what is increasingly hard to sell. The inevitable result is business failure.

However, while a traditional economy in turmoil is not a particularly pretty sight, it can be a very fertile ground for the development of a sound and stable strand of new tourism economy based on more fundamental assets.

The vital ingredient in this success is the way the work of Manx National Heritage has specifically involved the local community in a strategy for community, educational and commercial benefit which will provide for the long-term protection and retention of the Island's cultural and natural assets. Indeed, the involvement of the local community is so fundamental to the concept of this work that it forms a specific section of the Manx National Heritage official policy statement.

This co-ordinated strategy depends for its success on an approach which transcends traditional administrative, curatorial and subject boundaries. Above all, it is not stricken with what I call "the curse of institutional departmentalism." The organisation works as one cohesive unit pursuing a policy which has well defined goals and a positive perception of the service which can be provided. In addition, Manx National Heritage is working closely with organisations which, five years ago, would not have considered our work relevant to their own.

The interpretive strategy obviously involves close liaison with the planning authority (though this has not prevented M.N.H. appearing at several recent planning appeals and public enquiries, winning the case on each occasion!). But the national telephone company, the post office, the main shipping and air carriers, car-hire companies, leading banks and accountancy firms, hoteliers and local taxi-drivers are all supporting the strategy, either physically, financially or promotionally.

Some of them are doing this because they share our detailed knowledge and love of the Manx heritage. But a lot of them do not have this motive. Rather, they have been presented with a strategy which they can understand, to which they can contribute, and which clearly defines the advantages they themselves can expect to receive by contributing to the overall community effort.

This strategy has been captioned for public consumption as "The Story of Mann".

THE ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF "THE STORY OF MANN".

A fundamental base for this strategy is the recognition by all M.N.H. staff that their work should be central, not peripheral to the territory's economic, social and, therefore, cultural well-being. This is particularly true at a time when the Island is seeking alternatives to the "bucket and spade brigade" which relied for its holiday pleasure on sea, sand and sunshine and which formed the foundation of the Island's traditional tourist economy over the last hundred years.

As you may be aware, Manx National Heritage has recently won the British Museum of the Year Award. In fact we have won it twice in the last five years. No organisation has ever won it twice before! One of the reasons for this is the co-ordinated integrity of what we are developing and the radically different view we have taken re-garding our role within the community compared to most other cultural organisations.

Having focused from the start on the importance of our local community’s involvement, we provided ourselves with a philosophy which did not condone the habitation of "ivory towers". If we were going to attract the support of all sectors of the community (and this we felt was crucial) we had to recognise the reality of social and economic life. We recognise that we have no divine right to moral or financial support which cannot be clearly seen to be to the community's advantage.

While all the tax-payers of the Isle of Man would no doubt be happy to pay lip-service to the retention of and investment in these marvellous riches, the harsh world of financial competition within the community means that being "a good thing" is not enough.

The fact that we have attracted these people, and people from the very different world of business, we regard as a very revealing indicator of the success of our overall mission. But they do this for commercial reasons not necessarily for our reasons. They see support for the work of Manx National Heritage as one of the best ways of showing the general community that they are part of that community, that they wish to support it, and that they value what it values. If that has become a perceived standard of community value which penetrates and can be understood even in the hard world of high finance, we are definitely winning.

In order to provide this service, we have had to closely analyse the nature of the community we are serving. We think there are four main groups to provide for:

- the community of residents, reflecting the important fact revealed by the latest census figures that Manx-born people are now in a slight minority in their own land

- the community of visitors, reflecting the changing nature and sophistication of the modern tourist society

- the educational community, as a specific target market, whether originating from within or from outside the Island, at primary or higher educational levels.

- the future community to whom we are passing on our pride, our Heritage, and therefore our community values.


To accomplish this has required the development of three important areas of professional control:

- a high level of professional management which has promoted a culture of trust, based on the keeping of promises to the various private and public sectors of the community which are persuaded to participate in the overall plan and to provide for its funding

- a high level of academic study, including the formal creation of a "Centre for Manx Studies" in partnership with Liverpool University and the Island's Department of Education

- a carefully developed marketing strategy which, while complying with the long-term preservation requirements of the Manx heritage, also appeals, on a continuing basis, to all sectors of the defined community.

It would perhaps be useful here to provide a very quick review of the extent of these rich assets and the new strategy we proposed to maximise their potential for the community and for the economy.