MEDIA RELEASE – Nottingham, 13th May 2014
Galleries of Justice Museum wins Gold Award in the 2014 VisitEngland Awards for Excellence
Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice Museum is celebrating after scooping a Gold Award in the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year category of the prestigious VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014 at an Awards Ceremony held at Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, last night.
The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014 celebrate the best of English tourism. They promote healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England’s place as a world-class destination.
The Galleries of Justice Museum is Nottingham’s premier visitor attraction based in the heart of the historic Lace Market. The Shire Hall, a former courthouse and Grade II listed building opened to the public in 1995, and incorporates an 18th/19th century goal, Victorian courtrooms, an Edwardian police station, dungeons, cafe and shop.
James Berresford, Chief Executive of VisitEngland said: “I would like to congratulate the Galleries of Justice Museum on winning a Gold Award in the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year category of this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. We receive hundreds of applications each year of an extremely high standard, so it is a tremendous achievement for the Galleries of Justice Museum to receive this award.”
Jennifer Spencer, Chief Executive, Experience Nottinghamshire, added: “The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence applaud the top tourism providers in the country and we are thrilled that the Galleries of Justice Museum has scooped this award. The Galleries of Justice Museum plays an important role in the tourism offer for Nottingham and attracts visitors from all over the world. It is the best museum of its kind in Europe and it is excellent news they have been recognised by VisitEngland for their quality offering.”
Nicola Burley, Director of Enterprise and Operations, Galleries of Justice, said: ‘We are ecstatic to have won the VisitEngland Gold Award; not only does it recognise the hard work and creativity of our team but also celebrates the experience of our visitors which this year has reached a new high. We were very proud to win the Stars Award for Best Visitor Attraction in Nottinghamshire and are equally proud to be once again flying the flag for Nottingham. It is wonderful for the City and the attraction to be recognised nationally and to know that the public are enjoying the unique tours and exhibitions is fantastic.”
The VisitEngland Awards attracted 368 applications for the 2014 Awards – an increase of 15% on 2013. Visit www.visitenglandawards.org for more details.
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For more press information please contact:
Linda Parker, PR Manager
linda.parker@experiencenottinghamshire.com / Tel: 0115 962 8304
Carly Jones, PR Assistant
carly.jones@experiencenottinghamshire.com / Tel: 0115 962 8305
Notes to Editors
The Galleries of Justice Museum has a national reputation for its collections and offers visitors an atmospheric and interactive experience of three centuries of crime and punishment and Nottingham’s horrible history through costumed interpretation and audio guides. Visitors can also explore its six exhibitions or join in after dark ghost tours, terror tours, murder mysteries and medieval banquets. The Museum also delivers extensive educational and community work through its learning programmes which aim to strengthen society.
About Experience Nottinghamshire
Experience Nottinghamshire is the destination management organisation responsible for driving leisure and business visitors to the county. It also manages the city’s gold award-winning tourism centre.
Tourism in Nottinghamshire is estimated to be worth around £1.44 billion to the local economy and supports 51,500 jobs.
Experience Nottinghamshire is led and funded by the private sector with support from Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. It also works in partnership with VisitEngland and VisitBritain.
Nottinghamshire is a leading tourism destination with a world-class record for sport, science, heritage, creativity and culture, www.experiencenottinghamshire.com.
About VisitEngland
VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors. Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics
England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
For corporate information see www.visitengland.org and for consumer information see www.visitengland.com.