News from Rugby Tourism
Archived news - latest first!
Stoneleigh
- the next steps
Many will know that
Stoneleigh Park is the headquarters of the
Royal Agricultural
Society of England. Their exciting development plans are
distilled into this short
article.
Quality
Assurance - the new system
See this article for an update on
the next step for the Quality Assurance Schemes.
New TV feature film of Tom
Brown's Schooldays
Shooting on location at Rugby School for the first week of May 2004 meant
early mornings and long days for the boys of Rugby School who joined
Stephen Fry and the rest of the cast for the re-make of Tom Brown's
Schooldays, shown on ITV1 on 1 January 2005.
More ....
Webb Ellis Trophy comes to Rugby
Following England's Rugby World Cup 2003 victory in Sydney, Sir Clive Woodward and some members of the winning team
brought the Webb Ellis Trophy to Rugby on Spring Bank Holiday, Monday 3
May 2004. The cup was on display in various locations, and Sir
Clive, Matt Dawson and Steve Thompson received the Freedom of the
Borough on behalf of the whole squad in a special civic ceremony in the
Temple Speech Room at Rugby School.
More ....
Rugby Business
Awards 2004
We are extremely pleased that three of our members have
received Rugby Business Awards this
year. They are
Newman Estate Agents,
Bees Knees Private Hire and
Jamesway Travel, who
gained six awards in total, The top recognition went to Newman,
Rugby Business of the Year. Well done to them all.
Rupert Brooke Birthplace Trust
Having achieved their primary aim, to secure the house in Rugby where Rupert
Brooke was born as a future tourist attraction,
the trust has now been wound up. Rugby Borough Council has bought
the house and will take the project forward. They are now conducting a
feasibility study, which could take up to two years.
Increasing
visitor numbers
New figures released by Rugby Borough Council show that Rugby is
increasing its appeal as a visitor destination. In 2002 Rugby received 2.2 million
visitors, spending a total of £92 million. They spent three and a
half hours on average in the Borough. Rugby Tourism sees this as part of a
growing trend and is committed to improving the quality of the visitor
experience.
Trekking for
Charity
James Pak, owner of Jamesway Travel, long-standing member of Rugby Tourism, will
be trekking over 80 km through the Chicotin Mountains in Canada to raise funds for the
Acorns Children's Hospice
Trust. We wish him well, and invite you to support him. Why not
e-mail him here to offer a
donation!
Gold Swan Award
Congratulations to our members, the
Coombe Abbey Hotel, who have received the Gold Swan Award for their quality,
service and contribution to tourism. It is a boost to us all for a local
hotel to be recognised by this annual award from
Grand Heritage Hotels, a global
association of independent hotels. They were placed first by a panel of 23
judges.
Customer Care Awards 2004
We congratulate Tim Crofts and La Casa Loco on their excellent performance in Rugby's 2004 Customer Care awards.
The public voted
La Casa Loco best Restaurant, while it
came second in the Best Independent and Best Licensed Outlet categories.
Tim won the Best Individual category. We are pleased that another Rugby
Tourism member, Newman, won best Estate Agent.
Revamped event has potential for Rugby tourism industry
2004 saw not only a change in date for the Sunday
Times Motor Show Live but also a series
of new initiatives designed to attract visitors in their thousands to the NEC.
It moved from its traditional end of October slot to 27 May to Sunday 6 June
2004. As well as over 400 cars on display, there was a live action arena, a
driving school for the over 14s, off-road driving on a purpose-built 72-acre
woodland 4x4 course and test-driving of selected cars in the Test Drive Area.
More information here
Golden Lion wins a Coventry and Warwickshire Food and Drink Award 2003
The Golden Lion Inn, Easenhall, a member of Rugby Tourism, won the
Pub/Inn/Wine Bar category of the Coventry Food and Drink Awards 2003. The
judges commended their good use of local produce, which was well advertised and
presented with framed pictures of local suppliers logos and addresses . They
commented on the very good relationship with local suppliers. They noted
the excellent product knowledge of the staff, the appropriate use of local
products, and the positive promotion of what they had to offer.
Classic Gold Radio Bitter
The national launch of a new beer was celebrated at one of our members'
establishments. Classic Gold Radio Bitter
was served for the first time at the
Golden Lion Inn at Easenhall at 8.00 p.m.
on Thursday 13 November 2003. The new beer was the brainchild of Coventry and
Warwickshire's Classic Gold 1359 radio presenter Richard Perry. "I had the
idea when realising that our logo looks like a beer mat."
British Food Fortnight - 20 September to 5 October 2003
The autumn saw the second national celebration of
our regional produce. Our members were encouraged to link in with this
promotion, more details of which can be found
here
Britain in Bloom
2003
We were thrilled to have received a Gold Certificate in Rugby for the second year
running in the Large Town category of Britain in Bloom. This represented
just reward for the efforts of the whole community. Rugby received special
praise from the judges for its environmental work with schools.
Rugby in Bloom
2003
Congratulations to our members who won awards in this year's Rugby in Bloom.
In the Pubs and Hotels category, first place went to
Lawford Hill Farm Bed
and Breakfast and third place to
Summersault restaurant.
Town and Country Festival
Rugby town centre received a visit from the Yella Fella on Tuesday 19 August
2003. He was promoting the
Town and
Country Festival,
which took from 23 to 25 August at the National Agricultural Centre at
Stoneleigh, just a short journey from Rugby. This year the festival
featured five zones: Shop Zone, Engine Zone, Countryside Zone, Entertainment
Zone and the new Extreme Zone. Once
again the
Rugby
Visitor Centre sold discounted tickets for this event when bought in advance.
The Sheene Run - London to Rugby
The Auto Cycle
Union
celebrated its first 100 years by holding its Centenary Rally in Rugby with one
of the main attractions being the Finish of the
Sheene Run. The event, held on Sunday 6 July 2003,
attracted crowds from all over the country. All appreciated the fantastic
organisation, excellent entertainment and glorious weather, making Rugby a
stager of events par excellence! The total raised for the charity CLIC was
a fantastic £15, 672.43. See some pictures of the day
here
A handful of
awards
One of Rugby Tourism's members walked away with four of the prizes at the
Rugby Town Centre Customer Care Awards, presented on Thursday 20 February 2003.
La Casa Loco won the following
categories: best restaurant; best licensed premises; best independent; best
individual (Tim Crofts, manager)
Good flow of passing trade
The latest part of the £500,000 revamp of Hillmorton Locks is now open.
The Lock Stop Bistro,
a member of Rugby Tourism, has opened its doors in one of the historic
buildings. Run by Alan and Gillian Williams, it is open from Tuesday to
Sunday during the winter and for seven days a week during the summer months.
Rugby's Art Gallery and Museum on "Culture List"
Rugby is featured on a leaflet to boost the region's image as a centre of
cultural diversity. A total of 150 attractions are listed in the leaflet
produced by West Midlands Life as part of the drive to secure Birmingham the rôle
of European Capital of Culture in 2008. Rugby's entries in the list are
the Art Gallery and Museum, and Rugby School Sports Centre.
Viaduct floodlighting
Rugby Tourism is pleased to learn that the architecturally prominent viaduct
over the Leicester Road, north of the town, is to be floodlit, adding to the
list of interesting features in the area
Record number of visitors
Figures
released in November 2002 show that Rugby Borough has attracted a record number
of visitors, spending a staggering £82 million. Rugby Borough Council recently
commissioned the Heart of England Tourist Board to undertake an economic impact
assessment of the value of tourism to the Borough's economy. The results of the
survey were even better than predicted. Based on visitor figures from 2000/01,
approximately two million visitors came to the Borough. During their visit they
spent a total of approximately £82 million, which equates to nearly £7 million a
month. Most of the money was spent on catering and retail followed by
accommodation, transport and entertainment/leisure. The average spend per head
for day visitors to the town was £30 and for day visitors to the rural areas
£16.
Most visitors to the Borough, accounting for 87% of the total, were day
visitors, staying three hours or more. The remaining 13% were overnight
visitors. Of those overnight visitors 62% stayed in commercial accommodation
and 38% with friends and relatives. The report also highlighted that
visitor spending supports nearly 3,000 jobs. The majority of the jobs are in
catering, retail and leisure.
Gunpowder, treason and plot
Rugby was well represented at the British Visitor Centre in London on
Tuesday 5 November 2002, during a week-long regional promotion organised by
Advantage West Midlands. Visitors were entertained by Guy Fawkes and other
characters in period costume and were enticed by locally made toffee apples and
other treats.
Links with the Gunpowder Plot in the
Rugby area abound, - notably at Dunchurch, an important stopping place on the
road from London to Holyhead. In what was probably at the Old Lion Inn in the
village (now the Dun Cow), some of the conspirators waited in vain to hear that
the plot had been successful. Thanks to Rugby Borough Council for their
key role in this promotion.
All Oaks Wood, Oxford Canal
During the summer months
work has been underway to improve the canal-side car park at All Oaks Wood near
Brinklow on the north Oxford Canal. This is a very popular site with people
visiting the canal, particularly as there is a picnic site adjacent to the car
park. However, there have been problems with the surface of the car park in the
past, which developed pot-holes from the constant stream of vehicles and from
bad weather. British Waterways appointed contractors to carry out physical
improvements between 29 July and 23 August 2002, to improve the site for
visitors. The car park was given a new concrete surface to help prevent
further erosion problems. Additional landscaping of the area also took
place in September, completing the fresh new look at All Oaks Wood!
Let us
know if you have any suggestions for further improvements.
Popular voucher scheme
The new voucher scheme is now well under way. Members of Rugby Tourism
receive coupons to be used at the establishments of other members. As well
as being a useful benefit of membership, there is the added bonus of members
getting to know each other better. Please contact
the Manager if you would like to offer
a voucher for the use of fellow members.
Audit Commission praises Rugby Town Centre
See the report of the Audit Commission
here
Second Annual Oxford Canal Walking Weekend
British Waterways
organised seven walks along towpaths of the Oxford Canal
during a single weekend, 4-6 May 2002, and three of the walks were in the Rugby
area. All focused on local history and were led by volunteers. About 200 people
took part. Details of similar events can be found at
www.yourOWNtowpath.com
Some of the Brownsover
walkers
Congratulations
Several of our members have won awards for their high level of service
during the past year. In the Rugby Observer Business Awards 2001:
Jamesway Travel won the Expert Services category; Tebbs won the Home & Garden category;
Newman Estate Agents won the Estate Agent category. In the Heart of
England Excellence in Tourism awards,
Coombe Abbey Hotel won the award for Hotel of the Year with over 50
bedrooms.
Britain in Bloom 2001
Rugby continued to demonstrate that we are among the very best when it comes to
our floral displays. In 2001 we came second
in the Heart of England's large town category, with Stafford the winners. This
follows our first position of 1999 and 2000. We can be very proud that we beat strong contenders such as Leamington Spa,
Shrewsbury and Hereford.
Undiscovered Warwickshire
Rugby Borough Council is getting together with North Warwickshire and Nuneaton
and Bedworth Councils jointly to fund a new campaign called Undiscovered
Warwickshire. This is to raise awareness of the many wonderful places to visit
which we have nearby but which many visitors may overlook. By joining together,
the three councils will be able to achieve more than one could do alone, and it
also gives us a better chance of obtaining additional external funding.
Lights galore!
The new
floodlighting for Rugby School was switched on officially on 12 November 2001.
The following week saw the town springing to colourful life with the switching
on of the Christmas illuminations on 17 November 2001.
Interpretation signs
One of our members is now working on two new interpretation signs, which
will be funded by Rugby Borough Council. One sign will feature the work of Sir
Frank Whittle and the other will record Rugby's role in the development of the
railway network.
Draycote Water
Severn Trent has proposals to invest in Draycote Water to improve this
excellent amenity within the Rugby area. The implementation will depend on
reaching agreement with other leaseholders and users of the site.
Rugby League returns to the Home of Rugby
Rugby School again played host to visiting teams from the Rugby League
Conference, with the final game played on Saturday 1 September. This was the
first time that the famous pitch has been used for a Rugby Union match and a
Rugby League match on the same day!
Rugby Under 21 National Sevens Competition
Following on from the successful staging of the 2001 competition, Rugby
Lions RFC again hosted an Under 21 Sevens Competition in August 2001.
Leaflet Distribution
We are pleased to announce that all our leaflet distribution has been placed
in the hands of Oakleaf Distribution, based near Stratford upon Avon, 01789 721
122.
Strategy and Forward Planning
Rugby Tourism and Rugby Borough Council have reached a partnership agreement
for 2001/2, whereby Rugby Tourism will handle the following projects, sponsored
by Rugby Borough Council:
-
Customer Care programme
Rugby Tourism will operate Welcome Host and other training courses -
Inspection Schemes
Rugby Tourism will work with its members and Rugby Borough Council to improve the quality of the accommodation product in the Rugby area -
Literature Distribution
Rugby Tourism will arrange regular distribution of the Borough's tourism literature -
Interpretation Signs
Rugby Tourism will design two more interpretation signs depicting historic achievements connected to the Borough -
Tourism Workshop
Rugby Tourism will work with Rugby Borough Council to organise a Tourism Workshop in Autumn 2001 to enable Rugby Borough Council to open up a debate with the tourism inductry on a number of key issues affecting the Borough -
Tourism Publications
Rugby Borough Council has set aside funds to pump-prime the production of the Visitor and Accommodation Guide and the Meetings, Conference and Events Guide
The press launch of the Rugby Tourism website was held in Rugby Library on Monday 26 March 2001. Members and guests enjoyed a convivial atmosphere around the suite of computers and some ideas for the development of the site were explained.
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