Chatsworth Scoops Silver in Visit England Awards
Chatsworth has been awarded Silver in the ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ category at the Visit England Awards for Excellence 2015.
The award was presented to the Chatsworth team by the national tourism body at a glittering ceremony on Monday 11 May at the Sage Gateshead, which drew together the country’s top visitor attractions. The Visit England Awards for Excellence are firmly established as representing the highest accolade in English tourism.
The Duke of Devonshire comments:-
“We are absolutely delighted that Chatsworth has been awarded Silver in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category at this year’s Visit England Awards. Chatsworth is a very special place with a dedicated and passionate team, who continually strive to exceed visitor expectations and deliver excellent customer service. I am thrilled that the hard work and commitment to our visitors has been recognised at such a high level.”
The award recognises businesses that incorporate best practice, demonstrate excellence in customer service and are committed to delivering the very best in quality and innovation.
This year’s busy programme at the Peak District (Derbyshire) country estate includes launching the Chatsworth Festival – Art Out Loud, a major new literary festival; the 10th anniversary of the Beyond Limits monumental sculpture exhibition; plus, fun for families throughout the summer culminating in the ever popular Country Fair ahead of the glittering Christmas displays.
Chatsworth has undergone significant change in recent years with improvements to its events, exhibition programme and visitor services. For example, last year it added a new contemporary art and sculpture exhibition in the house and garden by Michael Craig-Martin; ‘Chatsworth in Wartime’, recreated the State Apartments as the girls school dormitory they used during WW2; a week of evening events called ‘Luminaire’ was held in the autumn with house tours by candle light and spectacular night-time projections in the garden.
Customer service training has built on the theme of ‘Excellent to Extraordinary’ while the increasing number of visitors from overseas has driven greater foreign language interpretation in the house, including Chinese. Food and toilet facilities have been upgraded in the garden and farmyard while access to Chatsworth has been improved with more frequent public transport as well as better onsite parking and driveways.
