Leicester Tourist Information Centre ranked second in the country

Leicester Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in Town Hall Square is now the second highest ranked facility in the country, according to recent official rankings by VisitEngland, the national tourism body. Leicester TIC is operated by Leicester Shire Promotions and achieved a score of 94 per cent for its customer service following a rigorous annual mystery shopping exercise, conducted earlier this year by VisitEngland. The score places Leicester as top in the East Midlands and second in the entire country for service excellence, out of a total of 300 TICs.

The annual quality assessment comprises anonymous and unannounced contact by trained ‘mystery shoppers’ by email, on the telephone and in person at TICs across the country. These contacts are then marked on a variety of services including the handling of enquiries, interaction with customers, accessibility, as well as the appearance of the centre. The highest ranked TIC in the country was Wareham in Dorset.

Martin Peters, Chief Executive of Leicester Shire Promotions, added: “We are absolutely delighted with the results of this year’s mystery shopping exercise. The Leicester TIC has an unyielding ‘get it right the first time’ culture and continuously evaluates and adjusts operational standards to exceed customer expectations. This endeavour for high quality customer service across all operational facets reveals the dedication and professionalism of the staff here.”

The Leicester TIC, which underwent a major refurbishment earlier this year to improve accessibility and layout, received a visit report score of 94 per cent for its customer care – the highest the centre has ever achieved. Ninety six per cent was awarded for customer service received during face-to-face visits and 96 per cent was awarded for service via email. Following the integration of telephone customer services into the Leicester TIC from a third party call centre, which took place only last year, a staggering 90 per cent was awarded for customer services received via telephone enquiries.

This news follows Leicester Tourist Information Centre’s recent Silver Award in the ‘Tourism Information Service’ category of the recent East Midlands Tourism Enjoy England Excellence Awards, held at the Athena in Leicester in October 2009.

About VisitEngland: VisitEngland is the strategic leadership body representing the public and private sector stakeholders of English Tourism. It works in partnership with VisitBritain, the Regional Development Agencies and local authorities, and the private sector, creating a national tourism strategy, optimising marketing investment, and developing the visitor experience across England. www.enjoyengland.com

About Leicester Shire Promotions: Leicester Shire Promotions is a private, not-for-profit company formed in July 2003 as a partnership between Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and the Leicester Shire Economic Partnership. The company is the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) responsible for promoting Leicester and Leicestershire to visitors, based on a coordinated place marketing strategy that focuses on destination leadership and coordination, attracting and visitors, services for and visitors, and services for the tourism industry.

For more information, please visit www.goleicestershire.com
For further media information, please contact: Nimisha Mehta Leicester Shire Promotions
T: 0116 225 4063 , nimisha.mehta@l-p-l.com

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