VisitScotland: Hamilton Park Racecourse becomes one of only three Five Star racecourses in Scotland

EDINBURGH, Scotland, 2018-Jul-25 — /Travel PR News/ — An historic sporting venue has become one of only three Five Star racecourses in Scotland following a grading from VisitScotland.

Hamilton Park Racecourse, located on Bothwell Road in the South Lanarkshire town, was upgraded from Four Stars by the national tourism organisation’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme in recognition of its exceptional standards. The QA Scheme is a benchmark for quality across the tourism industry and operates across accommodation, visitor attractions and food sectors.

The venue, which has been a racing site since 1926, has recently invested £250,000 in a luxury upgrade for its hospitality boxes, with luxury fixtures, fittings and interiors, new facilities and a revamp of the Owner and Trainer’s bar. This is following the impressive £800,000 refurbishment programme carried out last year.

Now boasting VisitScotland’s highest rating, the racecourse continues its ambitious plans to offer visitors the best experience possible with work already underway to open a £10m hotel in the summer of 2019. Offering 118 rooms, this new investment will create 20 new jobs and generate an additional £5.9m in annual visitor expenditure.

The town of Hamilton has a rich history of horse racing with the first race taking place in 1782 at a site in Chatelherault, situated just outside the town. The current site has made a lot of history of its own, most notably when it became the first racecourse in Scotland to stage an evening meeting in 1947, something that is now common place throughout the industry.

Vivien Currie, Chief Executive of Hamilton Park Racecourse, said: “We’ve held 4 stars for over 10 years and have been working towards this goal for some time, so are very proud to have achieved that aim..”

“This award acknowledges our continued investment and the holistic approach the team takes to the visitor and customer experience at Hamilton Park Racecourse.

“It is important to note that racedays account for around five percent of the year and we recently achieved our aim of holding an event at least 50 percent of the year. Hamilton Park Racecourse is not just a premier sporting venue, it is also one of the most sought after hospitality and conferencing facilities in the country.

“The efforts of the team were recently acknowledged when the venue was named the Best Small Racecourse in Scotland & The North by members of the Racegoers Club, and this award further demonstrates their hardwork and dedication.”

Jim Clarkson, VisitScotland Regional Leadership Director, said: “Congratulations to Hamilton Park Racecourse for this outstanding achievement. A huge amount of time, effort and investment has been put into developing the venue and this accolade is a testament to the hard work put in by the whole team here.

“Our Quality Assurance Scheme is world-leading and provides a trusted, independent and impartial source of information for visitors. It is about much more than just a star rating – it is about the entire visitor experience and investing in the business to make it as economically sustainable, and profitable, as it can be.”

Hamilton Park received particular praise for the warmth of the staff, excellent levels of cleanliness across the site and the high standards set for welcoming visitors to the venue.

VisitScotland star awards are indicators of quality and provide reassurance to visitors. The national tourism organisation offers support to businesses to ensure they meet and exceed the high standards expected by visitors.

For more information about Hamilton Park Racecourse go to www.hamilton-park.co.uk

For more details about the Quality Assurance Scheme and the VisitScotland Information Partner programme go to www.visitscotland.org

Notes to Editors

• Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
• VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
• The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
• This will be supported by five overarching strategies: Marketing, Events, Quality and Sustainability, Inclusive Tourism, International Engagement.

• The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
• Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
• For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
• Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
• For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
• For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com

2018 Year of Young People

• The Year of Young People (YoYP 2018) will inspire Scotland through its young people aged 8 to 26, celebrating their achievements, valuing their contributions to communities and creating new opportunities for them to shine locally, nationally and globally
• Central to YoYP 2018 will be a celebratory events programme that puts young people at the heart of its development and delivery, creating new and valuable experiences for young Scots and the wider public, with links to the inaugural 2018 European Championships.
• Over 200 young people throughout Scotland are currently being recruited to become YoYP 2018 Ambassadors. Ambassadors will ensure that people and organisations in their communities know about what’s happening and will lead on projects and activities to create events and opportunities to celebrate young people.
• The Year of Young People will have six themes which were developed in co-production with young people themselves:
• Participation – looking at how young people can influence public services and decisions which affect their lives
• Education – creating a stronger role for young people in shaping their learning
• Health and Wellbeing – supporting young people to lead healthier, active lives and have opportunities to learn about and improve their mental health and resilience
• Equality and Discrimination – broadcasting the value of young Scots, challenging negative perceptions of young people, and supporting young people to take leading roles in challenging discrimination in all its forms.
• Enterprise and regeneration – celebrating young people’s role in innovation, entrepreneurship and the Scottish economy as well as making Scotland a greener and more pleasant place to live
• Culture – celebrating young people’s talent and contribution to Scottish culture and arts.
• Further information on what’s happening and how people can get involved can be found on the new website www.yoyp2018.scot or @YOYP2018 on Twitter.

Contact:
Grant Anderson
Corporate Press Officer – Regional
Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, Argyll and the Isles, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
grant.anderson@visitscotland.com
0131 472 2416
Out of hours – 0131 472 2324

Source: VisitScotland

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