Visit Britain endorses AIM

Leanne Bell, 15 September 2008

The NTO is backing the MIA's quality assurance scheme

Visit Britain has backed the Meeting Industry Association's quality assurance scheme, Accredited in Meetings (AIM).

The NTO is endorsing the scheme, which is designed to provide a universal standard for venue facilities and service, by encouraging all meeting venues in England to become accredited under AIM when it is made available to non-association members in January.

Visit Britain will include AIM branding on its printed material and offer endorsements on its website. It will also enable its online venue search machine to prioritise AIM-accredited businesses, and encourage the Department for Culture Media and Sport and other Government bodies to use accredited venues and suppliers for their own events.

Visit Britain head of business visits and events Joss Croft said AIM drove best practice for quality and service and CSR performance. "The industry has been in need of a reputable standard and we firmly believe AIM is the one all meeting venues should aspire to achieve. We are encouraging venues to achieve AIM's entry level as a minimum but hope they will aspire to the silver and gold levels as their businesses progress."

The scheme was launched 18 months ago.