Corfe Castle at sunrise
Businesses from across Purbeck have been celebrating winning Dorset Tourism Awards.
The Discover Purbeck Information Centre, Wareham received silver in the Information Service of the Year category at the recent awards ceremony.
This is the fifth time that the Centre has won a coveted Dorset Tourism Award and it joined tourism businesses from across Dorset.
Award winners from the district in other categories were Swanage Tourist Information Centre, which achieved gold, along with Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre (Silver and Bronze); Worth Matravers Tea & Supper Room (Silver); Longthorns Farm camping and glamping (Bronze); Swanage Railway (Silver); and the Tank Museum (Bronze)
Councillor Caroline Finch, Deputy Economy and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder for Purbeck District Council, said: “A huge congratulations to the Discover Purbeck Information Centre which faced stiff competition from around the county.
“The team strives to maintain high standards, so we are proud to see their commitment has been recognised with the silver award.
“We are delighted that the Swanage Tourist Information Centre won Gold this year, proving how committed the district’s tourism teams are to providing the best service to visitors to our area.”
Councillor Finch continued: “We are also thrilled that some of the district’s many fantastic businesses have been awarded and we look forward to even more businesses participating in highly-respected ceremony in the future.”
Both information centres went through a rigorous three-stage judging process which involved initial scoring of an entry form, a programme of mystery visits and finally decisions by an independent panel.
The Discover Purbeck Information Centre, based in Wareham Library, is the first point of contact for many of Purbeck’s visitors. The Centre’s team, which offers a first class professional service and a wealth of local knowledge, welcomes almost 100,000 visitors every year, including local residents and those who choose to enjoy their holidays in the district of Purbeck.
Tourism Manager Holly Lagden said “The Dorset Tourism Awards are a free to enter scheme that provides valuable mystery shopper feedback which we find useful to help us keep Discover Purbeck Information Centre running well and our team motivated, we recommend that tourism businesses across the district apply for 2018”.
