Cumbrian attraction sails away with national tourism award

Windermere Lake Cruises has won a major accolade at the National Coach Tourism Awards 2015, which recognises excellence and innovation across the coach tourism industry.

This year’s National Coach Tourism Awards saw 100 coach tour operators, destinations, visitor attractions and industry suppliers vying for one of 20 awards. Windermere Lake Cruises scooped the honour of ‘River and Inland Cruise Operator’ - a brand new category for 2015 - for its commitment to welcoming coaches and their groups.

Already one of the country’s top ten paid-for visitor attractions according to national tourism body VisitEngland, Windermere Lake Cruises hosts 1.4 million visitor journeys every year. A large part of this business is focused on the group travel market and the judges at the National Coach Tourism Awards praised the company for its flexibility, working with both tour operators and local hotels to offer an end-to-end service which meets the needs of individual groups.

The awards presentation at West Midland Safari Park in Worcestershire was hosted by comedian and actress Helen Lederer, alongside the editor of Coach Monthly magazine, Stuart Render.

Stuart Render says, “Windermere Lake Cruises was up against the best of the best, so this is therefore a well-deserved and a significant achievement. Our winners are at the forefront in delivering excellence across all sectors of the industry, helping to raise the quality of customer service and quality across coach operators, destinations, visitor attractions and tourism industry suppliers.”

Sales Manager for Winander Leisure (which owns Windermere Lake Cruises) is Jennifer Cormack, who was one of the staff on hand to collect the award in front of more than 400 tourism industry professionals.

She says, “Coaches and groups are a huge part of our business and we were up against some strong contenders, so this award shows that the work we do with coach operators really is appreciated. It’s a particular honour because it’s the first time this category has been included in the awards. We can’t rest on our laurels though; I know the coach park team, and indeed everyone at Windermere Lake Cruises, will continue to strive for an excellent service for all our customers.”

For details of all the winners and finalists at the National Coach Tourism Awards, go to www.ncta.co.uk