Press release -
Reaching for the stars at Aberdeen Sports Village
An Aberdeen sports facility which has just hosted the third Commonwealth Water Polo Championships has been awarded a five star Quality Assurance (QA) grading from VisitScotland.
Aberdeen Sports Village has been in the national tourism organisation's Quality Assurance scheme since 2013 and received its five stars following a recent visit.
A partnership between the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen City Council and sportscotland, the Village first opened to the public in August 2009. Situated in Linksfield Road, Aberdeen Sports Village recently hosted the third Commonwealth Water Polo Championships.
It hosts an array of world-class sporting facilities and exercise opportunities for everyone in the community, including an energy zone fitness suite, indoor pitch, sports hall, indoor and outdoor athletics, squash courts, studios, hockey pitch and playing fields. An aquatics centre with a 50m ten-lane pool will open on the site next month.
Kenny Gunnyeon, Business Development Manager at Aberdeen Sports Village, said: “We are delighted to have attained our five stars from VisitScotland after only joining the Quality Assurance scheme last year.
“All the staff here at the Aberdeen Sports Village strive to ensure that our visitors have a first-class experience and want to return again soon. We have worked very hard to reach this standard and this award is the icing on the cake for us.”
Philip Smith, VisitScotland Regional Director, said: “I would like to congratulate the team at Aberdeen Sports Village for attaining this very high standard. As Scotland welcomes the world in 2014 with a line-up of world-class events, including the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, The Ryder Cup and the second year of Homecoming, it is vital that everyone involved in tourism works together to offer visitors a fantastic experience when visiting and staying in Aberdeen City and Shire.
“Our Quality Assurance scheme helps businesses to reach their full potential and truly shine. The scheme is about more than just the ‘stars’ on the door - it’s about the entire visitor experience, about investing in your business and making it as economically sustainable as it can possibly be.”
VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance Scheme currently boasts more than7,000 participants and has been used as an example of best practice with countries all over the world, including Sweden and Namibia.
For more information, visit: www.aberdeensportsvillage.com
ENDS
For further information contact:
kim.walton@visitscotland.com, 01224 269 187 (Mon-Wed) or lorna.maclennan@visitscotland.com, 01463 244 171 (Wed-Fri)
Out of hours media enquiries: 07699 766986
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- quality assurance
Regions
- Scotland
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 has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- 2014 is the year Scotland welcomes the world, when it hosts the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and more than 800 Homecoming events throughout the country.For more information on Homecoming Scotland 2014, go to www.visitscotland.com
- The VisitScotland Information Centre network is a unique face-to-face channel engaging with around five million visitors and locals each year. Everyone who uses a VisitScotland Information Centre goes on to spend an additional £5.35, generating over £24 million for Scotland’s economy.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, tourism employs 270,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the industry contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- 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
- For more information on VisitScotland’s annual review please go to www.visitscotland.org/about_us/our_focus/annual_report.aspx
