Success for The Novium Museum at The Beautiful South Tourism Awards

The Novium Museum in Chichester has been awarded a coveted Bronze in the category Small Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Beautiful South Awards 2016.

In addition, Chichester Roman Week was awarded Highly Commended in the Tourism Event of the Year category, and Chichester Tourist Information Centre was also awarded Highly Commended in the Visitor Information Provider of the Year category.

Held at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, the ceremony celebrated the fantastic visitor experiences available across the South and South East of England.  Established over 20 years ago, the Beautiful South Awards reward excellence, quality, innovation and customer service. 

The awards attracted a record 179 entries and judging took account of the entry form, along with a combination of web searches, review sites, emails, telephone calls, visits and value for money. For the finalists, the panel was looking for all elements to be excellent, with some of them outstanding.

Nigel Smith, Chief Executive of Tourism South East, said, "Achieving excellence isn't easy - it takes vision, years of commitment, hard work and talented people. All of the finalists can be proud about their achievements and the example they are setting for others to follow. I want to thank headline sponsor Shepherd Neame and the rest of our sponsors who make the Awards possible and the judges who give their time and expertise voluntarily. Sometimes the margin between businesses is tiny and they have the unenviable task of deciding between them."

Shepherd Neame's director of retail and tenanted operations Nigel Bunting said: "Shepherd Neame is proud to sponsor the Beautiful South Awards for a fourth consecutive year. With more than 300 pubs, inns and hotels in our estate, we understand the importance of offering a great visitor experience. These awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the vision, investment and hard work of the diverse range of tourism businesses in our region. We would like to congratulate all the finalists and winners on their achievement in offering an exceptional visitor experience."

Cathy Hakes, Manager of The Novium Museum and Chichester Tourist Information Centre of said, 'It's a real honour for Chichester's Novium Museum and Tourist Information Centre to have been recognised across three categories in this year's prestigious Beautiful South Awards. To receive the Bronze Award for Small Visitor Attraction is a real achievement, and a great reflection on the entire team of staff, volunteers and supporters of The Novium Museum.'