What is a Visitor Charter and How Do We Create One?

What is this advice about?

This advice is for heritage organisations that welcome visitors to historic sites, including buildings, landscapes, parks and gardens.

It describes the features and benefits of a 'visitor charter', a document covering the expectations of visitors and the host organisation during visits.

What are the key points?

What is a visitor charter?

Visitor charters are an at-a-glance guide to behaviour expectations at a specific site or place. They are most frequently seen in green spaces and parklands and are conservation-focused, but heritage sites and historic places are increasingly using them.

When people visit your site, they are usually aware of the basic rules around where they can and cannot access, how to move around the site, and how to behave due to standard social cues such as signage and visible rules notices. However, a visitor charter goes beyond these basic cues, setting the standard for behaviour for both the visitor and the host organisation. They usually refer to how these behaviours impact others, the environment or fabric of historic places, and how the site can be as inclusive and accessible as possible.

A visitor charter lets visitors know what to expect at your site, which is important for all visitors, especially those who are more likely to face barriers to participation with heritage, such as disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent people. With a few simple statements, a visitor charter can reflect the approach and ethos of an organisation towards its visitors.

Creating a visitor charter can also be an excellent way to consult with your local communities, visitors and potential visitors. Reaching out to different groups to help craft the charter can help establish links, build a better understanding of your audiences, and help reach new audiences.

What are the first steps to creating a visitor charter?

First, gather a panel to workshop what you want to include in the charter. This should include current staff, including front-of-house or visitor-facing staff, as well as facilities managers and anyone responsible for access and inclusion.

It should also include current visitors and people who have never visited before, and reflect your local communities as well as known current audiences. You can find out what the demographics of your locality look like by using census data by Local Authority via the ONS (Office for National Statistics).

Gather some examples of visitor charters from similar organisations or places nearby. You can find some at the end of this guidance, but check the websites of heritage sites, museums, and other visitor attractions for other examples. These can be used as inspiration at workshops.

At these workshops, break down your ideas into categories:

• How do we want visitors to behave towards the historic environment?
• How do we want visitors to behave towards each other?
• How do we want visitors to behave towards staff and volunteers?
• How do we want staff and volunteers to behave towards visitors?
• What do visitors need in order to have an excellent visit?
• How can we welcome a diverse range of people and communicate this?
• How can we ensure the site is preserved for future visitors?

Using these categories (and any others you feel are relevant), you can begin to form a set of behaviours that can form the basis for your visitor charter. Narrow these down to the most relevant and important ones, and explore how to communicate them using clear, simple language.

You can then break your list of behaviours into 3 major sections:

• Expectations for visitors
• Expectations for our organisation
• Inclusion and Accessibility

What are the key elements of a visitor charter?

A visitor charter should be short, easy to read, and quickly convey information. After you have completed the process of workshopping the contents and themes, it is time to set these out in an accessible format, both for online and hard copies.

Consider using a brief set of bullet points under each heading so that the text is easy to scan and each discrete point is straightforward to understand.

Think about the following headings and what types of behaviours you want to cover under them:

What is expected of visitors

This should cover how you hope visitors behave towards each other, staff and volunteers, and the historic landscape or buildings.

It should emphasise the conservation goals of your site, the importance of both natural and human-altered features, and reference any specifics you have based on your site. If your site has specific safety concerns, such as steep drops, then sensible navigation of these could also be referenced.

Keep it to the most essential points rather than making it a huge and unwieldy list that people may struggle to take in.

What is expected of organisations

This should cover your commitments to visitors and will guide them in what to expect when they are on your site.

It could cover the number of staff and volunteers they will expect to encounter and what their roles are. It could also cover the types of facilities you offer and how you will maintain them.

Be sure only to make commitments that you are able to resource and maintain.

Inclusion and Accessibility

This could be covered by the first 2 headings and should be embedded across behaviours of all on site. However, it is worth having a specific section that draws attention to your commitments and clearly communicates that all are welcome.

In terms of visitor behaviour, it is good practice to emphasise that discriminatory behaviour, harassment, and antisocial behaviour of all kinds will not be tolerated. By explicitly referencing sexism, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination in this expectation, it gives no room for interpretation of this rule. It gives people at a higher risk of facing these behaviours confidence that they are welcome and that all incidents will be taken seriously.

In terms of staff behaviour, make a commitment that is grounded in your current policies and practices. If staff have a rigorous training programme to welcome diverse visitors, reference this, especially if there are specific qualifications that will always be represented.

If you have specific equipment on site, reference staff, volunteer knowledge, and availability. This might include: "We will always have qualified staff on hand to operate the platform lift at the entrance."

How should we promote our visitor charter?

Your visitor charter should be accessible and visible, both on site and online, so that visitors and potential visitors have the opportunity to see it before and during their visit.

• On your website, it should be directly linked from the landing page, and be alongside any booking information, visitor information, site plans and site maps
• On site, it should be up and visible, in accessible sizes and formats, at entry points and in high-traffic areas such as cafes, bathrooms, and shops. Front-of-house staff and volunteers should draw attention to it and point towards alternative versions such as Braille where available

Refer to your visitor charter in promotional materials such as emails, social media posts, and any hard copy leaflets or posters by adding a QR code link.

Refer to it in staff meetings, volunteer meetings, and any board or other committee meetings you have so that awareness is embedded and referring to it becomes second nature.

Further reading

Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Museum of Wales, have a clear and concise visitor charter

The Story Museum has a succinct charter with a focus on visitor expectations

Visit Scotland: responsible tourism guide