Improving the Visitor Experience

Rockingham Castle, Northamptonshire

Raising Quality Standards

EMT is committed to improving the visitor experience in the region and has introduced a regionwide Quality Improvement Programme (QIP), which aims to improve the competitiveness, productivity and quality of the region’s tourism offer.

Visitors lie at the heart of the programme, which takes into consideration the complete visitor experience from start to finish including; planning and booking, travel and transport, destination experience, going home and recollection of the experience.

£1.3million was invested between 2005 to 2008 on Destination Management Partnership led activity to improve the competitiveness, productivity and quality of the offer for all types of visitor to the region.

During this time the QIP delivered substantial benefits by both increasing the number of businesses signing up to quality assurance schemes and by developing innovative ways to improve other aspects of the visitor overall experience, for example inviting the region’s taxi drivers, who are often the first point of contact for visitors to attend Welcome training.

 A further million is being invested between 2008-2011, helping to ensure quality improvement remains at the forefront of tourism activity in the region, and produces results that have a lasting effect.

The QIP programme incorporates a range of activity to raise quality standards across the East Midlands including: 

• Quality Accreditation
• Q-Books
• East Midlands Tourism Enjoy England Excellence Awards
• Events