20.03.07
'Satisfaction rating' scheme launched in Cornwall

Qualmark, a revolutionary new initiative to award accommodation providers with a 'satisfaction rating', was launched today in Cornwall at Lanhydrock Golf and Country Club.

The launch event was attended by people from the Cornish tourism industry and business community, all keen to hear more about how the initiative will reveal what customers really think.

Qualmark has been developed by the leading non-profit tourism organisation Cartwheel and is designed to run alongside and complement existing Visit Britain gradings. It was piloted with 15 of Cornwall's top accommodation businesses in 2006.

"Cornwall is the ideal place to launch Qualmark," says Gina Woodcraft, director of Cartwheel. "The tourism industry here is very well developed but also very competitive, so operators need to know why customers will or won't be booking again in order to keep running their businesses successfully.

"You often hear people say 'The owners were so lovely we just didn't have the heart to tell them the truth.' This presents a real problem for tourism businesses, in that it's often only when repeat bookings start tailing off that they realize something's wrong. Qualmark will help reveal any problems before they start losing business."

The main mechanism of Qualmark is the anonymous questionnaire. These are filled in by visitors and returned for independent analysis by Cartwheel. At the end of the season each subscriber is given detailed feedback and, if their satisfaction rating is above a certain point, they will also receive a Qualmark as a badge of excellence.

The launch of Qualmark in Cornwall is being supported by the Objective One Partnership and the Western Morning News. Guest speakers at the launch event included Carleen Kelemen, director of the Objective One Partnership and Emma Corlett, business editor of the Western Morning News.

"Huge tourism gains have been made in Cornwall since 2000," said Carleen Kelemen during her presentation. "Cornwall is now seen as an exciting place to visit year round. But visitors are becoming ever more discerning and it is vital that we do not stand still. Qualmark is another step on the road towards a top quality tourism product and will become a badge of quality that visitors can recognise."

Cartwheel is hoping to sign up 80 tourism businesses to the Qualmark scheme in Cornwall this year. Many of the businesses that participated in the 2006 pilot have already subscribed for the 2007 season. The initiative is expected to revolutionise the UK domestic tourism industry as it is rolled out nationally.

For more information about the Qualmark initiative please visit www.qualmark.co.uk, email qualmark@cartwheel.org.uk or phone 01392 877842.

For further information contact Veronica Newport at NPR on 01363 866927 or email veronica@n-pr.co.uk.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in Cartwheel through the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).

Editor's notes:

Cartwheel is the South West of England's leading farm and rural holiday company, offering visitors the chance to enjoy a unique countryside experience. It is a private sector limited company run by farmers, committed to raising the standard and profile of rural tourism in the South West.

All Cartwheel members are independently inspected according to the company's quality criteria which encompasses quality of accommodation, local food, green tourism and sustainable land management

Cartwheel administers an Objective One gateway fund, the Rural Tourism Marketing Grants Scheme

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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