Roman Baths finalist in Tourism Awards

Roman Baths reaches finals of Tourism Awards
October 2010

 

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Roman Baths have been short listed in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2010.

 

The Awards celebrate the very best in the tourism industry in the South West, with the historic Roman Baths in the running in the ‘Best Large Attraction’ category against other big names including Longleat, the Eden Project and Bristol Zoo.

 

Stephen Bird, Head of Heritage Services at Bath & North East Somerset Council said:

“Being short listed for the South West Tourism Excellence Awards is a huge achievement. It is a testament to the success of the Council's 5 year, £5.4million development plan, which has brought the Roman Baths into the 21st Century.

“We now have an attraction that even more people can enjoy, thanks to improvements to accessibility. We’ve also made a visit to the Roman Baths more interactive with Roman Characters on hand to help people learn more about the history of the Baths and what life was like 2,000 years ago.”

 

Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, Councillor Francine Haeberling said:

“I would like to congratulate the Council run Roman Baths on being short listed for this prestigious award. All the improvements over the last 5 years have made it a truly world class attraction.”

 

The awards will be presented at a special ceremony in Torquay on November 15.

The 5 year Roman Baths development plan was designed to increase visitor numbers and boost revenue which benefits local taxpayers across the area. The Council’s Heritage Services make a surplus of over £3m each year which is reinvested in other frontline Council services such as street cleaning, libraries and waste services.

For more information about the Roman Baths visit http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/ . For information about the South West TourismAwards visit http://www.swtourism.org.uk/ .

 

-Ends-

 

Notes to editors

Some of the initiatives to make the Roman Baths more accessible are: 

  • Installation of two new lifts;
  • Complete revision of the public route through the site;
  • Introduction of a British Sign Language tour presented by veteran BBC See Hear presenter Clive Mason to give people with hearing impairment an accessible alternative to the audio tour;
  • People using wheelchairs can now gain access to more than 60% of the site, parts of which are 15 feet below modern ground level. This is a considerable achievement when working within the constraints imposed by a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade 1 listed building.