Marina: Brighton
SailnetUK wins double award in prestigious Tourism ExSEllence Awards...
The final results of the Tourism ExSEllence Awards covering the whole of the South East were announced last month at a prestigious Gala Event.
Winners from the shortlisted businesses across the region were revealed, and out of the 15 categories, SailnetUK, a sailing centre in Brighton Marina won both the 'Sports Tourism' and 'Best Tourism Experience' Awards. They now go on to compete in the national 'Enjoy England Awards for Excellence' in 2009.
The Tourism ExSEllence Awards are the premier awards for the tourism industry in the South East and are managed by Tourism South East. They cover all kinds of tourism organisations, from small Bed & Breakfast businesses to large exclusive hotels and visitor experiences.
Judges look for excellence, quality and innovation, covering all aspects of the business from customer service, sales & marketing, to training & development for staff.
The Judge of the Best Tourism Experience category Roger Budden felt SailnetUK to be the outright winner due to its 'Excellent product range that has been invested in and developed over the last year to offer an increasingly wide range of experiences for the customer.'
He was impressed by the move to provide new on-site self-catering accommodation, and to buy a luxury yacht to broaden the training and experience offered. And it was SailnetUK again that impressed judge of the Sports Tourism category Lindsey Horton so much that she declared the centre as the winner, describing it as 'A fantastic product ...with promising signs of becoming a high level sports tourism product.'
Exacting Standards
Entrants had to demonstrate that their business or activity attracted visitors from both within the region and outside and exhibit a clear commitment to encouraging participation and active recreation. The awards also recognise quality facilities, customer service and innovation.
Judges also looked at the overall customer experience, and commitment to excellence through the quality of the product or service and factors including effective sales and marketing, accessibility, staff training and development and sustainability.
Says Irenka Griffin from SailnetUK of the Award;
'We are thrilled to be recognised in this way. For a small sailing company such as ours, to outshine competition from top tourist destinations such as Ascot Racecourse and Blenheim Palace is quite overwhelming.'
Robert Collier, chief executive of Tourism South East, comments on this year's successes, "It's a delight to see such a high standard of entry - it gets better every year.
We look forward to seeing more success as the winners go forward to the national Enjoy England Awards for Excellence in 2009.
More information about this year's Tourism ExSEllence Awards can be found at www.getdiscovered2008.co.uk.
