Visit Midlothian

The Scottish Mining Museum, one of Midlothian's most popular visitor attractions, has won the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions " Best Visitor Experience" Award 2009, sponsored by The Royal Yacht Britannia. Recognising excellence in visitor experience among ASVA member organisations, the awards were presented at ASVA's ‘Driving Sustainable Growth' conference at the Westerwood Hotel near Glasgow on 12th November.

Entries for the award were received from visitor attractions across Scotland, all of who were then visited by members of Britannia's management team to see if they were delivering what they promised in their entry forms. Following this, a shortlist of 3 attractions was drawn up. The 3 finalists, which also included Mount Stuart House & Garden and Stanley Mills, were then visited by Bob Downie, Chief Executive of The Royal Yacht Britannia, a senior member of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance team and an ASVA Board Member.

Entries were assessed on all aspects of the layout and content of the attraction and on the ‘experience' offered, in particular the quality of interaction between staff and visitors.

Commenting on the Scottish Mining Museum's win, Chairman of the judges Bob Downie said: "There was very little between the finalists this year but the Scottish Mining Museum's overall commitment to providing a great day out for all ages, coupled with their passion for preserving and presenting our industrial heritage in an informative and enjoyable way meant that they thoroughly deserved to win this prestigious award".

Scottish Mining Museum Director Fergus Waters commented: "We are absolutely delighted that our museum has won such a highly-respected tourism industry award. It is fantastic to see that the great efforts of all our staff have been recognised as we continue to welcome visitors through the doors every day. Our success is a credit to the whole team here at the museum".

Presenting the awards, ASVA Chairman Andrew Johnson said: "‘Tourism businesses are operating in a rapidly changing business environment, and it is therefore vital that visitor attractions seek to ‘go the extra mile' in order to exceed the expectations of increasingly discerning visitors. Encouraging improved customer service and quality through awards such as this is just one of the ways ASVA supports visitor attractions throughout the country".

In recognition of the win, the Scottish Mining Museum wins one day's free consultancy advice from Colin Shaw, top business consultant, international speaker, and founder of Beyond Philosophy, the world's thought leaders in customer experience.