Kents Cavern Ltd, 91 Ilsham Road, Torquay, Devon, TQ1 2JF
Tel: 01803 215136, Fax: 01803 211034
nickpowe@kents-cavern.co.uk
www.kents-cavern.co.uk
PRESS RELEASE
4th December 2012
Kents Cavern shortlisted for South West
Outstanding Customer Service Award
After bringing home Gold at the Devon Tourism Awards last month, Kents
Cavern has been selected as one of the winners for the Outstanding Customer
Service award in the 2012/13 South West Tourism Excellence Awards to be held at
the Eden Project in February.
Kents Cavern in Torquay is one of Europe’s ten top prehistoric caves and has
been a visitor attraction since 1880. For over 130 years the caves have been in the
hands of the Powe family and today Nick Powe is the 5th generation of the family to
manage one of the UK’s best known natural underground attractions.
Nick Powe, owner said, “I nominated Claire Preece, my hospitality
manager, because of her exceptional work promoting, managing and
delivering our expanding hospitality business at the caves.
“Standing still is not an option in this industry. Over the last ten years
we’ve been creating a wide range of events for existing and new markets,
locals and visitors. If we’d relied on traditional holiday-makers for a
sustainable future we’d be long gone. We now have a dynamic program of new
and innovative products, many bespoke, designed to complement the
outstanding prehistoric heritage and culture. Claire has been instrumental in
this process.
“Kents Cavern may be the earliest home known to man, recognised by
UNESCO as part of the English Riviera Global Geopark, and that’s a pretty
unique selling point to start with, but when it comes to hospitality, customer
experience and dealing with a very likeable person, Claire is our unique selling
point.
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“It was fantastic to see Claire winning Gold in Devon last month, and her
excitement resonated down to all the staff that support her here. It gave us
plenty of valuable media exposure. Getting selected to represent Devon, and
the English Riviera, at the Excellence awards for England’s top region is
something very special and best of all, we get more very welcome exposure
for what we do to support the region’s tourism and leisure economy.”
Judging was carried out by an independent panel of past winners, industry
leaders and experts in their field, selected for their impartiality, experience and
suitability for each category and included a mystery visit to all businesses taking part.
The South West Awards Excellence Awards Ceremony takes place on Friday 8th
February within the biomes of Eden Project in Cornwall.
Winning awards and generating publicity for the English Riviera is not new for
this long established and well respected privately owned South Devon attraction. In
2008/9, Kents Cavern won Gold as the best large visitor attraction in the South West
Tourism Excellence Awards. In 2012 its dynamic business culture was responsible
for picking up Gold for Best Innovation & Marketing at the Herald Express South
Devon Tourism Awards, and in November Kents Cavern picked up the top visitor
attraction ranking in the Western Morning News Best Tourism/Hospitality Business of
the year.
In 2011 Nature, the world's leading scientific journal, published research
dating a fragment of human jawbone from the cave at over 41,000 years old. This is
now the oldest modern human fossil discovered in northwestern Europe, making
Kents Cavern, the oldest known human settlement across all of Europe down to the
southern tip of Italy. Science editors around the world were keen to pick up the story
and it is estimated the international media exposure generated in excess of £1m of
publicity for Torquay.
-ENDS-
NOTES TO EDITOR
1.
Kents Cavern is recognised by UNESCO’s Earth Science Division as part of the English Riviera Global
Geopark. The designation is awarded to areas of outstanding geological and cultural heritage value
where geological heritage is used for the benefit of the local economy. This is a highly prized
designation with less than 100 areas in the world designated as Global Geoparks.
2.
For further information on filming or for any other interview or photography requests at Kents Cavern
contact Nick Powe at Kents Cavern on (01803) 215136 or e-mail: nickpowe@kents-cavern.co.uk
3.
For a full list of shortlisted businesses by category in the 2012/13 South West Tourism Excellence
Awards, visit www.southwesttourismawards.org.uk
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