Sandcastle Superstars Welcome All
Lancashire’s 2012/13 tourism award winners who made it through to the VisitEngland Excellence Awards have only a few more days to wait before they find out whether they have won a prestigious national award. The winners will be announced at an event to be held at Lancashire County Cricket Club, Old Trafford, Manchester on Monday 20 May attended by leading figures and colleagues representing England’s £97billion (per annum) tourism industry.
Amongst Lancashire’s finalists is Sandcastle Waterpark, winner of the county’s Access For All Tourism Award 2012/13 and leading exponents of customer service excellence and accessibility.
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Just ahead of the national awards Helen Aldous, Marketing Lancashire’s Welcome to Excellence Training Manager, visited the attraction to congratulate four members of the team, who have recently completed a Welcome to Excellence Welcome All Trainer Briefing and can now deliver the course in-house to colleagues at the waterpark.
Commenting on their success Helen said,
“The team at Sandcastle Waterpark has demonstrated real commitment to Tourism for All, by embedding accessibility training at the heart of their operations.
“Providing key individuals with the confidence and ability to deliver Welcome All training in-house, will ensure that the whole team has the opportunity to acquire and share skills, that make a real difference to the disabled customer. Their growing expertise in customer service will help ensure that the thrill and enjoyment of this wonderful attraction is shared by all.”
“Sandcastle Waterpark was a worthy winner of Lancashire’s Access For All Tourism Award, we wish them every success at the VisitEngland Excellence Awards at Lancashire County Cricket Club next week.”
John Child, Managing Director of Sandcastle Waterpark said,
"Sandcastle Waterpark is proud to be an accessible venue and the Welcome All training course has been paramount in setting the standard for every member of our team. We wanted to ensure we had the best disability awareness training and have encompassed several courses in our training programme to help achieve this, with the Welcome All course top of our list.
“In order to offer a fully inclusive experience, we believe every aspect of accessibility should be understood. Tourism for All is vital to the success of the industry going forward and we’re passionate about learning and sharing this knowledge amongst our team and tourism colleagues.”
Welcome All is part of the nationally recognised Welcome to Excellence customer service training programme, delivered across the North West by Marketing Lancashire.
It is designed to help participants acquire skills and knowledge to provide facilities and services that meet the specific needs and expectations of disabled people. It also helps ensure that all customers receive a warm welcome and the highest levels of customer service.
For more information on Welcome to Excellence training programmes contact: Helen Heyworth, Training Co-ordinator Tel: 01772 426454
Photo attached shows LtoR: Richard Halstead (Operations and Waterpark Manager), John Child (Managing Director, Sandcastle Waterpark), Jane Kelly (Marketing Consultant), Rennie Whittaker (Assistant Waterpark Manager), and Gary Henshall (Guest Services and Training Manager).
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Media enquiries: Anna Izza, Communications Manager, Marketing Lancashire
01772 426 459 or [email protected]
Notes to Editors
- Lancashire’s 2013 finalists in the VisitEngland Excellence Awards are: Access for All Tourism, Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool; Caravan Holiday Park, Sunset Park, Hambleton; Small Hotel of the Year, Northcote, Langho; Taste of England Award, The Redwell Country Inn and Restaurant, Arkholme; Tourism Pub of the Year, The Millstone at Mellor.
- Marketing Lancashire is the new name for Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board (from 1st April 2012) Our activities in marketing and communications, commercial membership, `Welcome to Excellence` training and place marketing are all designed to grow the visitor economy and develop the destination as a great place to visit, live and work.
In 2011 Lancashire attracted just over 60 million visitors who contributed £3.37 billion to the local economy and helped support 55,603 jobs.