The Roman Baths has been recognised as one of the country’s top three Large Visitor Attractions at the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
The award winners were announced on Monday 24th April at the Hilton Waldorf hotel in London.
The Roman Baths were pipped at the post by Waddesdon Manor, which was the overall winner in the ‘Large Attraction of the Year’ category. The Mary Rose Museum was the other finalist.
Working collaboratively with industry, VisitEngland’s Awards for Excellence celebrate the best in English tourism. Competition this year was particularly fierce, with 600 entries across 22 categories.
The accolade follows two wins for the Roman Baths at the South West Tourism Awards in February: Gold for ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ and Silver for ‘International Visitor Experience’.
Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones, (Conservative, Lansdown) Cabinet Member for Economic Development, said: “We are delighted that the Roman Baths has been recognised as one of England’s best large visitor attractions.
“This reflects the continual improvements made by staff at the Roman Baths to ensure that our visitors from around the world receive an outstanding welcome.”
The East Baths, adjacent to the famous Great Bath, have been updated this year with new projections, soundscapes and CGI reconstructions showing the Roman Baths at the height of their popularity as a working, living and leisure space.
Visitors can watch, listen and step into the Roman Baths as they would have looked in the first to fourth centuries.
Last year, the Roman Baths introduced audioguides in four new languages – Dutch, Korean, Polish and Portuguese – bringing the total number of audioguide languages to 12. Audioguides are available free of charge for visitors.
Due to their popularity, the cast of Roman characters around the Great Bath has been expanded to include Candidina, a lady from Metz (now in France) who is visiting the Temple of Sulis Minerva to pray for a cure for her deteriorating eyesight.
Other recent improvements have made the Roman Baths more accessible for disabled visitors. Four new lifts have been installed, along with handrails, ramps, lowered ticket office counters, wheelchairs for visitors to borrow, and a new accessible toilet.
The site has also been made more accessible to visitors on the autism spectrum, with detailed guidance about what to expect provided on the website.