The Isles of Scilly Tourist Information Centre (TIC) has crowned an exceptional year in 2016 with its Highly Commended Award at the Cornwall Tourism Awards, which recognises a commitment to excellence, outstanding customer service, creative marketing and an integrated partnership approach.

It was the first time that the Tourist Information Centre, now managed by the Islands’ Partnership, had entered the awards following an upgrade and rebrand of the TIC in June. Other activity this year has included Welcome Host training for the team, joined-up marketing with the Scilly Events programme and an outreach programme that provided an additional “meet and greet” service for visitors.

As part of the Cornwall Tourism Awards’ evaluation process, the TIC had to submit a detailed, evidenced application form and also received a mystery shopper visit who, in their assessment, found the Isles of Scilly TIC to be “a great asset to the islands”, having received a “great welcome”. The team was “very open and welcoming, with big genuine smiles and a clear passion for the islands and the job”.

“The Tourist Information Centre remains an important and incredibly valued service,” notes David Jackson, Executive Director, Islands’ Partnership. “The nature of a visit to Scilly makes it unlike many other destinations. The very fact that Scilly is small (and still relatively little known) makes the need for a professional and joined-up visitor information service all the more critical in helping visitors to plan every stage of their trip. This is particularly the case when our visitors arrive on the islands, where the need for information, advice and hugely valuable local knowledge is so vital to help people simply ‘understand’ how to get around and experience the islands. The increasing level of footfall and enquiries the TIC receives is testament to this – the footfall alone representing nearly 50% of all visitors to the islands. Very few, if any, TICs in England come close to this proportion of visitor usage.”

This year, the TIC welcomed nearly 52,000 visitors (up by 5,000 on last year) through its doors between 1st April and 31st October, whilst telephone enquiries totalled 4,400, a 49.4% increase over 2015.

“The TIC team has done the Isles of Scilly very proud this year,” David sums up. “Not only have they delivered an excellent service to a great many visitors, but they have also embraced a far greater integration with the Islands’ Partnership’s activities, particularly with respect to our meet and greet service and the Scilly Events programme. It therefore seemed fitting to benchmark our practices against other TICs, and the Highly Commended recognition at the Cornwall Tourism Awards demonstrated that the Isles of Scilly TIC is very much up there with the best in Cornwall. This success has been the icing on the cake.”

Photographed with the Cornwall Tourism Awards’ Highly Commended certificate from left to right are: Maggie Wagstaff, Lena Heslin and Sue Sherris.

The Islands’ Partnership has won a Food Tourism Grant worth £21,750 as part of DEFRA’s five-year Great British Food Campaign. The “Scilly Food & Drink” Project is one of 10 successful projects from across Britain to benefit from the Department’s Food Tourism Grant Scheme designed to showcase Britain’s rich food heritage and traditions and celebrate the people who grow and make it, as well as the beauty of the countryside and coastlines it comes from.

The Scilly Food & Drink Project sets out to harness Scilly’s locally distinctive food and drink offer as a means of growing the islands’ appeal, attracting new audiences and extending the tourism season. The grant will be used to establish a distinctive brand and identity for Scilly’s food and drink sector – from local producers, fisherman and farmers, to chefs, restaurants and suppliers – which will be supported by engaging visitor experiences.

“Between now and the end of March, we will look to really get under the skin of what makes our local food and drink so special and distinctive to Scilly,” says Islands’ Partnership Executive Director, David Jackson. “The Taste of Scilly celebration in September was just a starter in terms of what these islands can offer. With the DEFRA grant funding, we have a real opportunity to build a cohesive food and drink brand for Scilly, which, alongside the supporting industry toolkit can act as a real catalyst for the islands wider visitor economy.”

Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom adds: “From tatty cake to the Islands’ fine wine, there is huge passion for food and drink on the Isles of Scilly. Creating a brand specific to the islands will harness the distinctive food and drink it has to offer and attract new visitors, boosting the local economy for the producers, fishermen and farmers who are the heart of the industry.”  #foodisGREAT