The South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2011/12 have praised the Roman Baths for the improved accessibility it offers all visitors.
- © Pyramid Torbay Photography
The Romans Baths received a “Highly Commended” in the Access for All award section in recognition of recent development work carried out by the Council to improve access in a wide range of ways and make the experience more inclusive for people with a wide range of different needs.
The award was officially presented to members of the Roman Baths team – Katie Smith, Iain Johnston and Susan Fox – by the Independent and TV travel writer Simon Calder at a prestigious awards ceremony held in Torquay’s Riviera Centre on 6 February.
There were three other winners in the Access for All category, all of whom are specialist providers of holiday facilities for people with special needs. The Roman Baths was the only visitor attraction to be recognised for introducing new access arrangements.
Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “This is the first time we have put in an application for this category and the judges commented that the competition was tremendously fierce. Therefore we’re delighted that the Roman Baths shone through to be awarded Highly Commended status. It shows Bath & North East Somerset Council’s commitment to making this extremely popular visitor attraction accessible and exciting for everyone to enjoy.
“Physical accessibility at the Roman Baths has improved enormously with the installation of two new lifts and a complete change in the way visitors can move around the site. Understanding of the ancient monument has also become easier for our visitors with new displays and improved interpretation throughout, and there is a wide range of visual prompts that everyone can recognise.
“We have new interpretation for blind and visually impaired visitors with many tactile exhibits. There is a dedicated British Sign Language audio guide, an inclusive personal audio guide in eight languages, and tours for English and French speaking children. The judges even took into account the inclusive way that we cater for people with particular dietary needs in the Pump Room restaurant.”
The South West Tourism Excellence Awards judging panel based its decision on recommendations from the category judges and mystery shoppers for this year’s awards.
The official report highlighted a number of positive aspects of the Roman Baths visitor experience, including:
- Unique historic site of world class importance, with extensive museum and collections. Excellent and comprehensive website with extensive information for planning a visit, including a walk-through guide plus detailed information on numerous objects in the collection.
- Ancient monument and Grade I Listed site containing 2,000 year old Roman Baths with outstanding Georgian addition.
- Superb Pump Room Restaurant in outstanding surroundings. Food and drink of a very high quality with evidence of local produce being used. Very high standard of service – chefs will provide for various dietary needs. A unique experience enhanced by live music.
- Friendly staff in and around the museum areas. Two new lifts to allow access to lower areas of the museum. Accessible routes available through main sections of the museum and two wheelchairs available for loan.
- Choice of multi-lingual audio guides to enhance the visit. Excellent range of interpretation including pictorial, video displays, projections children’s audio tour, animated computer graphics and interactive displays.
- Many tactile exhibits, signage and maps. Braille information and excellent British Sign Language hand-held guide available, Personal guide available to sign, bookable with notice.
For more information about Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Roman Baths visit http://www.romanbaths.co.uk or call 01225 477774.
