Business Tourism Award of the Year

Enjoy Staffordshire

Tourism Awards 2015

Business Tourism Award

This award acknowledges the huge importance of the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions sector of the tourism industry. Special attention will be paid to innovative products or business tourism products reaching new market segments as well as upgrading of or creation of new facilities.

Closing Date 30 September 2015 at 5.00 p.m. Further Details of entry are to be found at the back of the form.. Business Tourism Award of the Year

Contact Details Contact Name: Business Name: Business Type: Address:

Telephone: Mobile: Email: Website PR Contact Details (if different from above)

Business Details How long has the business been operating? (Years / Months) Do you have a National Quality Assurance (NQAS/VAQAS) Rating How many Staff do you employ: (Show proprietors/owners + Full + Part time) Give details of any periods the property/business is closed:

Give a brief history of your business (max 200 words): Give a brief history of your business and describe the full range and nature of the product / service you provide, and the overall visitor / customer experience. Business Tourism Award of the Year

Previous Awards:

Please list all Awards since 2012 Awarding Title of Award Level (e.g. Gold) Year Organisation

Finalists will demonstrate exceptional commitment to excellence in quality, customer care and business practices in the following areas:

1: Your Commitment to Excellence (max 200 words): Describe your values, philosophy and commitment to excellence, and tell us what you think puts you above the competition and at the top of your sector of the industry. What is the unique selling point of your business? Business Tourism Award of the Year Business Tourism Award of the Year

2: Food & Beverage (Max 100 words):

Describe the catering offered to your customers/guests and how this service has been enhanced within the last two years. What training is carried out to ensure staff have knowledge of the Food & Beverage offering? Please give examples:

3: Outstanding Customer Service (max 300 words):

Describe your customer care values and philosophy and give examples of how you believe that your service is outstanding. Include how you handle booking enquiries, guest/visitor welcome and arrival, the conference/event itself (including service at meal times) and departure. Also describe how you deal with health & safety issues and complaints. Please give examples. Business Tourism Award of the Year Business Tourism Award of the Year

4: Quality Improvements & Developments (max 300 words): Give details of any specific Quality Improvements and Developments that you have made to your business to enhance your guests’ experience within the last two years. May include for example, refurbishments, addition of new facilities or services etc. What impact did this have on your business? For example, increase in business, increase in positive customer comments. Please give examples.

5: Staff Training & Development (max 200 words): 1. Please detail your training values and philosophy for your business. How do you ensure that you and/or staff remain motivated, feel part of the team and gain the correct knowledge to ensure that the customer receives high quality service? What investment has been made in staff training and development in the last 2 years and give examples how this has improved the services provided to guests/visitors.

6: Innovative Marketing and Promotion (max 300 words): Business Tourism Award of the Year

6.1. Give details of your target market(s) and describe how your product fits the audience you are targeting. Have you carried out any research into these market(s) and explain briefly how you attract new and/or repeat business and any innovative marketing and promotional campaigns you have carried out.

6.2. With the aid of supporting material, provide evidence of how these marketing initiatives have been successful and how that success has been measured. How does your business distinguish itself from others in terms of the products and services offered? What impact has this activity had on your business? Business Tourism Award of the Year

7: Accessibility (max 200 words): Give details of how your business / service is accessible to all visitors, particularly people with impairments and others with physical and sensory access needs. Give examples of; a. Customer service including disability awareness training b. Accessibility information provision and promotion (provide a copy of your Access Statement) c. Access facilities and services

8: Sustainability (max 300 words): 8.1: Give specific examples of how your business is embracing sustainability. In particular in the following areas (note; all areas must be covered).  The local economy (local purchasing, local produce. Employing local people, supporting other local businesses  Residents and visitors (forging links, local community groups or schools, connecting with charities, encouraging access for all in employment and or visitors  The environment (managing energy, waste or water consumption

8.2: Please describe how you communicate your efforts to make your business more sustainable and how you encourage guests and employees to get involved. Business Tourism Award of the Year Business Tourism Award of the Year

FURTHER INFORMATION

Who can Enter

 Any organisation in the business tourism or business visits and events industry such as exhibition and convention centres; convention hotels; country house properties; and conference and banqueting venues, as well as convention bureaux, destination management companies and PCOs can enter this category.  Copies of any relevant award or membership certificates (including rating certificates if appropriate) will need to be supplied as part of your entry.

Supporting evidence Please read this section carefully as submitting the right evidence in the correct way will help the judges reach objective, consistent and equitable decisions.

Topic Potential implications Providing evidence or Not mandatory, but will help the judges to fully understand and assess the not? application. There is also no need to provide evidence for every single criteria. Referencing Incorrectly referenced evidence will not be considered. Make sure all referenced material has the correct question number as evidence without this will be ignored. Size of business When considering the supporting evidence the judges take into account the size of the business. This ensures that all applicants are given the same opportunity. Format Evidence needs to be in either a known Microsoft format or PDF. Please do not submit CD’s, DVD’s of Videos as they will not be considered. Type of evidence Judges are looking for processes and systems rather than input / output evidence. For example, providing a complaint letter and a follow-up letter of the complaint will result in a fewer points compared to evidence demonstrating a complaint handling process with tracked records and allocated responsibilities to staff members. Relevance Think about what is really relevant, it might be enough to supply a single photograph/screenshot in some instances rather than multiple pages of written evidence, in other situations it might be better to provide a flowchart or spreadsheet summary. Volume Not everything that is available should be forwarded to the judges. Sometimes less is more!

Judging

• The first stage of judging is based on evaluations of the written applications and evidence which must be submitted on-line only. • A shortlist of entrants (normally five for each category) is selected from the written applications, who may then receive a judging visit. Business Tourism Award of the Year

• Depending on the category being assessed, the judging of the shortlisted businesses / finalists may include announced visits. Announced visits may not be undertaken to all finalists if the judges deem the written submission is sufficient to determine the level of the Award. Finalists should therefore note that the lack of a visit does not mean that they are not still in the running for a major Award. Some categories may also be mystery shopped by telephone and/or email. • It should be noted however that for some categories such as ‘Tourism Event or Festival’ which may be retrospectively submitted for consideration, the assessment will be a desk based exercise. • Businesses will be notified if they are a finalist. Please note that all finalists will receive either a Gold, Silver, or Highly Commended Award, at the discretion of the judges. • Judges will be looking for evidence of excellence and best practice in all areas of business operations. • A word limit has been set for each section/question and it is strongly recommended you keep your entry to the stated word count. • Any claims made in applications must be substantiated and may be subject to testing by judges.

Terms and Conditions

By submitting an entry into the Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism Awards, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions: • The closing date for receipt of entries is 5pm on 30 September 2015. • Employees or representatives/agents of Destination Staffordshire are not eligible for entry into the Awards • Businesses can enter more than one category, but separate entry forms and supplementary information must be completed for each. • Each category may have additional eligibility criteria such as a specific Quality Rating or Quality Award. Please check the ‘Who can enter’ section above for more information. • Please note that by becoming shortlisted the business automatically becomes a finalist. However, the judges reserve the right to give Gold, Silver, and Highly Commended Awards at their discretion. • By entering the Awards, you agree to be part of the publicity if you are shortlisted in any category. • Please note that Destination Staffordshire or their agents, do not accept responsibility for the return of any entries and/or supplementary information, including those consisting of artistic or other material. • The judges’ decisions are final and they cannot enter into discussion about the shortlisting process, choice of finalists or choice of winners. • In the event of any dispute regarding the awards criteria, application forms, judging process or any other matter relating to the Awards, the decision of Destination Staffordshire’s appointed Judges shall be final and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into. • All businesses entering the competition can be given written feedback from the judges on request. • All Gold and Silver winners will be offered the opportunity to go through to the Visit England Awards and it will be businesses responsibility to confirm all data sent on-line.