Ripon retains place in top 11 with excellence accolade for Customer Service and Club Restaurant!
Ripon Racecourse has been confirmed as one of the top 11 racecourses to visit in England and Wales by national tourist board VisitEngland as part of the Racecourse Association’s (RCA) Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme (QARS).
The Racecourse Association’s (RCA) Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme in 2018 once again saw all British racecourses accredited as ‘good’ or better as average scores increase to 83%. This score is the highest on record for this scheme, demonstrating the continued investment in raceday experience by British Racecourses.
Each racecourse is visited by a trained assessor from VisitEngland or VisitScotland whose job is to objectively assesses the raceday experience. This assessment includes all customer touchpoints from the raceday and also comprises pre and post event information.
VisitEngland, responsible for all assessments in England and Wales, confirmed the top 11 racecourses for raceday experience in 2018 were (alphabetised): Aintree, Ascot, Beverley, Cheltenham, Chester, Newbury, Newmarket (July), Ripon, Uttoxeter, Wincanton and York. The benchmark score to be included in this prestigious company was 88%.
Paul Swain, RCA Brand & Experience Manager, said: “The Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme is a much-valued offering from the RCA in that it provides an expert, objective assessment of the raceday experience. More importantly, the feedback and evidence generated help racecourses to improve this year on year which I am delighted to say has been reflected in the scores.”
In addition to the general assessment there were Excellence Accolades for racecourses that recorded outstanding scores in specific areas of the assessment. These were awarded at the 2018 Showcase & Awards as follows:
Lovely Loos
Ayr, Beverley, Hamilton Park, Musselburgh
Visitor Information & Signage
Aintree, Bangor-on-Dee, Chelmsford City, Chester, Huntingdon, Kempton Park, Musselburgh, Newbury, Uttoxeter, Wincanton
Quality Café/Restaurant
Ascot—Owners & Trainers Restaurant, Newbury—Owners & Trainers Restaurant, Ripon—Club Restaurant,
York—Gimcrack Restaurant
Fast Food Outlet
York—Knavesmire Court
Staff Customer Service
Aintree, Beverley, Chester, Newbury, Ripon, Wetherby, York
Managing Director at Ripon Racecourse, James Hutchinson, said:
“We are absolutely thrilled to have retained our place amongst the top racecourses to visit for the fourth year and for the Club Restaurant to win an excellence accolade for the fourth consecutive year is a magnificent achievement. It is testament to our wonderful staff that we also won an excellence accolade for Customer Service and we aim to do even better in 2019. A big well done to all the staff involved.”
Andrew Stokes, VisitEngland Director, said “Our research shows that people want to visit our globally renowned racecourses with their historical pedigree and atmospheric race-day experience. The RCA Excellence accolades reinforce what people already know, that a day at the races in England and Wales is a world-class day out.
“And with racecourses dotted around England and Wales more visitors are travelling to experience all that a race-day has to offer, boosting the local economy throughout the year.”
