Yesterday, Tuesday 9th March, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard welcomed colleagues from Tourism South East who went back to their roots to work in visitor-facing roles as part of the annual British Tourism Week, which takes place from 15 - 21 March 2010. This key week in the annual tourism calendar sees events taking place nationwide to celebrate and raise awareness about the £114 billion tourism industry that is critical to the UK economy.
Three employees from Tourism South East - Paul Jeffries (Senior Development Manager), Karl Appleby (IT Manager) and Rosalyn Paynton (Marketing) – learnt about life behind the scenes of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, as they became tour guides, classroom assistants, customer service staff and mystery shoppers!
Highlights of their day included helping visitors to learn more about the Mary Rose collection in the current museum, there was a particular fascination with the Barber Surgeon’s collection! They also enjoyed seeing the behind scenes work with the education departments and how the Historic Dockyard and its attractions enthuse the younger generations in engaging with their heritage.
All three of the new recruits had a fun day and felt very welcomed by all the staff. They were really encouraged by the enthusiasm and knowledge of the tour guides at each attraction and the interactivity of the attractions for all ages. They have vowed to come back as visitors, although after all their hard work yesterday they may find themselves back behind the tills or giving tours!
In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 23 employees will be dedicating their time to tourism businesses ranging from Romsey Tourist Information Centre, Blue Reef Aquarium, Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Marwell Wildlife and Exbury Gardens.
Mike Bedingfield, Chief Executive of Tourism South East said “Team South East has been hugely enthusiastic in partnering with tourism businesses for British Tourism Week. The initiative will help us to better understand the local level issues of operating tourism businesses, enabling us to better represent them in our day jobs. As we come out of the recession tourism, which is worth in excess of £12 billion p.a. to the regional economy and supports over 300,000 jobs, will be an invaluable industry for skills and employment.”
Robert Bruce, Managing Director at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard added: “As a leading attraction and employer in Hampshire’s tourism industry, we fully support the ‘back to our’ roots’ initiative. Our relationship with Tourism South East goes from strength to strength and we were thrilled to welcome our new recruits who threw themselves into the work they were given and the energetic, enthusiastic atmosphere of the Historic Dockyard.”
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard will also be celebrating British Tourism Week with all residents with a PO postcode as for one exclusive weekend only, Friday 19th – Monday 22nd March 2010, they are offering a one-day £5 ticket to ‘discover the Dockyard on their doorstep’, saving up to 70% on standard prices!
To take advantage of this fantastic offer, residents just need to bring a utility bill and photo ID with them, any day between the 19th-22nd March, and their £5 ticket will be valid for one day to visit all the attractions.
For those who want even more, they can keep their ticket and redeem it before 30th April 2010 to receive £5 off an Adult, Child or Senior all-inclusive ticket to the Historic Dockyard.
To find out more about British Tourism Week visit www.britishtourismweek.com
For more information about Tourism South East visit www.tourismsoutheast.com
Note to Editors:
Full list of participating businesses in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is as follows:
Blue Reef Aquarium, Portsmouth
Chewton Glen, New Milton
Chilworth Manor, Southampton
Enchanted Manor, Isle of Wight
Exbury Gardens, Exbury
Hoburne Holiday Parks, Bashley and Naish
Romsey Tourist Information Centre, Romsey
Lainston House Hotel, Sparsholt, Winchester
Marriott Meon Valley, Southampton
Marwell Wildlife, Colden Common, Winchester
Mottisfont Abbey, Romsey
National Motor Museum, Palace House and Beaulieu Abbey, Beaulieu
New Forest Activities Centre, Beaulieu
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth
Princess Coaches, Southampton
Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport
Shorefield Holidays, New Forest
Whitley Ridge Country House Hotel, Brockenhurst
Tourism South East is the official tourist board for South East England, covering Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire and Surrey.
The South East is the largest region for tourism in Britain outside of London, worth in excess of £12 billion p.a. to the regional economy (7% of regional GVA) supporting over 300,000 jobs.
