Heritage and leisure attractions from the Bath area have performed strongly at the region’s top tourism industry awards – claiming a total of seven Golds.
The city’s heritage sites, including The Roman Baths & Pump Room, Victoria Art Gallery and Bath World Heritage Centre, netted six accolades between them at last night’s Bristol, Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards while the area’s hotels and restaurants were also among the winners.
The prestigious annual awards showcase the cream of the West of England’s tourist attractions and celebrate excellence in an industry, while facing huge challenges over recent years, has continued to innovate and develop.
Bath’s hotels, leisure businesses and tourist attractions have traditionally performed strongly in the awards – traditionally ending the night with several Golds.
But this year was something special as the city’s contenders romped home in style across most of the main categories at the awards ceremony, which was staged at Batch Country House in Lympsham, near Weston-super-Mare
In total, 65 finalists lined up in the 28 categories.
Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) Council, which owns and operates The Roman Baths & Pump Room, Victoria Art Gallery and Bath World Heritage Centre, said the awards haul highlighted the outstanding quality of the attractions while showcasing the city’s cultural excellence.
The Roman Baths & Pump Room landed Gold in the Active & Learning Experience category for its Unearthing Aquae Sulis – Life in a Roman Town activity, with Searcys at The Pump Room Restaurant awarded Gold as the Café/Tearoom of the Year.
The Baths also scooped Silver for Accessible and Inclusive Tourism and Bronze in the Large Visitor Attractions of the Year category.
Bath World Heritage Centre was named Visitor Information Service of the Year, while Victoria Art Gallery received Bronze for its Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists exhibition.
No 1 Royal Crescent, pictured, the museum owned by Bath Preservation Trust, won Gold as the Small Attraction of the Year, with and The Bird of Prey Project at Newton St Loe gaining Bronze in the same category.
Guided tour firm In & Beyond Bath landed the hotly-contested International Tourism Award with The Sepoy Club in York Buildings commended in the Restaurant of the Year.
Bath’s five-star Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa was named the Wedding Venue of the Year while Bishopstrow Hotel & Spa, the 19th-century, 32-bedroom country house hotel near Warminster, won Gold in the Large Hotel Of The Year category.
B&NES head of heritage services Robert Campbell said: “Our staff work hard to provide an award-winning experience to all of our visitors at The Roman Baths, Victoria Art Gallery and the Bath World Heritage Centre.
“It’s fantastic to have this dedication recognised with six prestigious Tourism Awards. To win across so many of our sites is a testament to the quality of experience we offer.
“I’m particularly proud to see our exceptional learning programme acknowledged as one of the best in the region.”
One of the two surprise awards made at last night’s ceremony went to Jon Chamberlin, pictured, head of marketing at Visit West, the regional destination marketing organisation behind the Visit Bath brand, for his outstanding contribution to tourism.
Visit West managing director Kathryn Davis said: “We are thrilled that so many of our businesses have been rewarded for all their incredible achievements this year with their success at the awards and look forward to seeing some of our winners hopefully progress into the national Visit England for Excellence finals next year.
“We have so many iconic destinations and world-class experiences in the region, it is important to remember to celebrate this, and that tourism doesn’t just happen.
“It is thanks to the investment, creativity and hard work of these businesses that make our visitor economy so valuable, worth more than £2.5bn just to the West of England.
“While this sector is largely made up of many small businesses, together they are incredibly powerful and thoroughly deserve the recognition received this evening.”
Bristol, Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards director Nell Barrington added: “For many, it has been a really challenging year, but tonight was all about celebration and recognising those businesses who go above and beyond every day to ensure every visitor has a fantastic, truly memorable experience.
“It is great that they get recognition for all their efforts and my sincere congratulations go to them for everything they do to put Bristol, Bath, Somerset and beyond on the map.”
Pictured:Bath Heritage Services team with their awards. Image by Nick Williams
