Case Studies
We thank our recent winners who have contributed short case studies for this website:
The Somerville - Gold winner in the B&B, Guest Accommodation & Inns category 2010/11
Entering competitions and endeavouring to win accolades is central to our efforts at brand building. We see them as a way for our clients to understand our product and the values we have. Our awards provide us with a narrative for our business and are key to our marketing strategy.
The process was very straightforward but more demanding than might have initially appeared. Completing the initial application required a great deal of reflection and the ability to use data to support our comments about the progress of the business. The inspection element was relatively easy in so far as we have been subject to anonymous inspections as part of our grading anyway.
The results for us have been both expected and unexpected. Not surprisingly, winning the county and regional award has given our marketing efforts a real boost. Our bookings over the winter and spring have remained buoyant and the summer bookings look strong much of this is because of repeat business. Interestingly, we have also seen a massive jump in the number of bookings from abroad and in particular Germany. An unexpected benefit was that the process of reflection revealed areas needing development which for us, for example, meant creating a much more useable accessibility statement.
My advice for future entrants. Make sure that you have useful key performance indicators with which you can demonstrate the progress of your business. These need to be financial for obvious reasons but may well include indicators such as ratings on review sites or levels or repeat business.
Porthminster Beach Café - Gold winner in Taste of the South West 2010/11 and Taste of England 2011
This year we decided to enter the Cornwall Tourism Awards for the first time and we were over the moon when we received Gold for Cornwall as Restaurant of the Year. We thought it would end there.
We were then entered into the Taste of the Southwest, again our dedicated staff waited anxiously for the results and again we won Gold. This has been a great way to celebrate, and really keeps us focused on giving the customer the best experience possible. We have a beautiful location, amazing Restaurant, passionate staff and together we endeavour to continue to grow into something we are already immensely proud of.
Our dedicated staff aim to provide customers with stunning food created from the finest local produce available. We want our customers to relax and enjoy themselves here. We have a motto “Get a fine ingredient, add previous knowledge, lose any geographical boundaries and make it come alive.
Millbrook Cottages - Gold winner in Self Catering Holiday of the Year 2010/11 and Silver winner in Enjoy England awards 2011
After being notified of the awards I was quite negative about entering. After reading through the application form I decided to look at the form as an exercise of good practice rather than just entering a competition. Whatever the outcome we would gain something from it.
I found filling the application form in to be very worthwhile as we discovered so many things we were doing and did not even realise it. I struggled answering a question on “what do you do that goes above and beyond expectation” as we have always done everything we would expect so I emailed the last 20 guests that had stayed with us and asked them.
We were shortlisted and visited by 2 judges. In October 2010 we won Gold for Devon Self Catering of year. We later attended the South West Awards. When we were not announced as 2nd or 3rd we assumed we were a finalist, when they announced Millbrook Cottages as Gold, I had to pinch myself!
We entered the England Awards. In February 2012 we found out we were shortlisted and we were really happy at the awards to win a Silver Award in April 2012.
My top tip is to make sure you read the question you are answering, do not go off on a tandem and use bullet points to get as much information in as possible.
END NOTE - The awards have given us lots of publicity and bookings, but we have also made great friends from other regional finalists. We now have a recommendation group working between ourselves to keep guests coming back to Devon and The Southwest.
Event Exeter - Gold Winner in Business Tourism 2010/11 and Silver Winner 2009/10
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/eventexeter
Setting yourself apart from your competitors is absolutely essential in today’s marketplace. When Event Exeter entered the Tourism Excellence awards in 2009-10 it wasn’t about winning a badge, it was about measuring our business against our competitors. We were astounded to win silver in that first year. Overnight the profile of our business was raised significantly and we optimised the opportunities the award gave us by shouting about our success.
Throughout 2010 we used the valuable feedback we had received from the judges to look in depth at our services and facilities, to see how we could improve. Even having won silver, there were some key areas of our business where there was clearly much room for improvement and it was good to take a look at these areas through a fresh pair of eyes. This really informed our business planning, from bidding for funds to make improvements based on detailing the expected return on investment through to specifically targeted marketing campaigns.
Entering the competition in the second year wasn’t a difficult decision. Although there was a risk we wouldn’t retain our silver award, we decided the benefits were far greater. From using the award framework to benchmark our business against our competitors, to evaluating the success of our planning during 2010 to ensure we made real improvements for our customers. We were really spurred on by our success from 2009-10 which had given every member of our team reason to be proud and celebrate.
Winning gold at the second attempt was absolutely fantastic. The award ceremony was a very special event and we were incredibly proud to be placed alongside such great peers representing the best of the South West.
I would strong urge everyone to look upon the Excellence Awards as a golden opportunity – remember it’s not about the badge, it’s about using it as a framework for long term success.
Bovey Castle - Gold Winner in Large Hotel of the Year 2010/11
Having followed the South West Tourism Awards for a number of years, without ever submitting an entry, it was decided that this would be the year that Bovey Castle entered the competition.
The application process was a team effort, with everyone asked to contribute their ideas about what made Bovey Castle such a unique destination within the Large Hotel of the Year category, with an immense amount of information offered up by everyone – from frontline receptionists and resort desk to the sales and marketing departments.
When we discovered who the other finalists competing for the title of Large Hotel of the Year were (a very diverse set of hotels, reflecting the different types of accommodation available in the South West), we knew the competition was going to interesting!
It was truly proud moment for Bovey Castle and its entire staff when the hotel’s representatives at the finalist’s ceremony picked up the gold award. The celebrations continued the following day, when everyone at the hotel discovered the result of the previous evening and the award was placed in reception.
This award sparked the beginning of three extremely busy but unforgettable months at the hotel…In January, Bovey Castle featured on the BBC2 programme Michel Roux’s Service, followed in March by the hotel being named a First Class Company for 2011 by the Best Companies to Work For poll!
Bovey Castle received remarkable PR for this award, as well as many messages of congratulations from tourism insiders, suppliers and previous guests on Facebook and Twitter, which emphasised further how quickly news of the hotel’s win had spread. This accolade still features on the hotel’s website.
The key to a successful application is to know the business inside out, to be able to provide information on virtually everything there is to know about your hotel or attraction. Finding someone who is passionate about your company and location also helps massively, as their enthusiasm for where they work will be obvious within every response in the application form.
