Tamworth Borough Council is proud to announce that Tamworth Castle has retained their official approval as one of the best small visitor attractions in Staffordshire, after achieving the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service accreditation; a quality assessment by VisitEngland, for the eighth year running.
VisitEngland offer a range assessments for tourism businesses in England. Attractions including art galleries, historic houses and buildings, are independently visited by an experienced assessor and offered support and guidance to improve their visitor experience.
Following improvements to the castle over the past few years including the Battle and Tribute Exhibition, introducing an AR trail and plus new events including archaeology digs and renowned speakers; the assessor was happy to report an increase once again in their rating score of at 91%, 2% up on last year, with the most notable score being 100% in the staff category.
The assessor commented in their report that the castle provides an “enjoyable and informative visitor experience, with visitors able to engage with some excellent and thought-provoking historic displays and interpretation.
Adding: “A particular strength of this assessment visit was again the quality of welcome and interpretation provided by the staff, leading to a perfect score in this section. The website, with the commitment to engagement with social media was very impressive, with notable significant increases in followers on both Facebook and Instagram.
“High scores were also achieved in the Cleanliness and Toilets sections, and in the Attraction section where all the interactive features were working perfectly.”
Tamworth Castle, which is run and managed by Tamworth Borough Council, has now been nominated for a VisitEngland Best Told Story and Welcome accolade for its interpretation and presentation in the castle, and the knowledge and enthusiasm of the staff, and will find out if they have been successful later this year.
Councillor Andrew Cooper, Portfolio holder for Entertainment and Leisure with Tamworth Borough Council, said: “We’re proud to say that we have an absolute gem of a castle, and this high accreditation from VisitEngland, is a well-deserved recognition of its value, importance and hard work of the staff and volunteers.
“I am delighted that Tamworth Castle has increased its overall scores thanks to the huge amount of hard work and dedication which the whole team puts into making the castle so special. The excellent interactions that visitors have at the castle and the positive feedback we receive, continues to demonstrate that the castle is all about the people – our visitors, staff and volunteers.
“Tamworth Castle now goes on to represent the borough further with its nominations for the Best Told Story and Welcome accolades. It will boost the profile of Tamworth even further and hopefully attract even more visitors to our amazing town and castle. You can book your tickets now online via: www.tamworthcastle.co.uk.”