Bath’s tourism and hospitality sectors are on the up after three tough years, with its heritage venues continuing to recover from the impact of the pandemic and the city again excelling in the region’s top industry awards.
Income from Bath & North East Somerset Council’s heritage attractions, including the Roman Baths and Pump, is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels over the next financial year.
The strong recovery means council chiefs expect the venues to make a £8.2m profit during 2023/24. However, overall visitor numbers are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025.
A recent council report showed that the number of people visiting the Roman Baths, pictured, last autumn was higher than anticipated while visitor spending in the Pump Rooms and Heritage Services’ retail shops over the past year had also increased.
The stronger than anticipated performance maybe due to a combination of the fall in the value of the pound accelerating the recovery in international tourism with cost-of-living pressures encouraging more people to staycation, according to the report.
Council leader Kevin Guy said: “This is extremely encouraging news. The changing economic situation means the outlook for the visitor economy is very unclear, but it is pleasing to see visitor numbers at the Roman Baths returning to around two thirds of pre-pandemic levels, particularly when you bear in mind the absence of Chinese visitors due to their strict Covid restrictions.”
The Roman Baths are also looking to boost visitor numbers through a rare opportunity to explore the historic monument outside of normal opening hours.
Hour-long ‘sunrise tours’ starting at 9am – an hour before they open to the public – cover the history of the Baths, revealing how they were used by the Romans, and how they were discovered and excavated in the 1800s.
Meanwhile Bath’s iconic Fashion Museum has found a temporary home for its world-class collection while work continues to create a new museum in the Old Post Office building on the corner of New Bond Street and Northgate Street.
Luxury glovemaker Dents is providing the museum with a large storage area at its headquarters in Warminster which meets the high environmental and security standards required for preservation of the collection, pictured, as well as space for the curatorial team to work.
Council chiefs have pledged that the museum, which was housed in the Assembly Rooms for nearly 60 years until they closed last October, will still go ahead despite the project failing to secure any investment from the government’s ‘levelling-up’ fund. Bath & North East Somerset Council had bid for £20m – more than half the project’s total budget.
Meanwhile, Bath’s tourism and hospitality venues came away big winners at last night’ South West England Tourism Excellence Awards.
Four-star Bowood Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort, based on the 2,000-acre Bowood Estate near Chippenham, won Gold in the Large Hotel Of The Year category, with The Manor House at Castle Combe, which is based in a 14th-century building set in 365 acres of secluded parkland also near Chippenham, landing the Bronze award.
The gold in the Spa & Wellbeing Experience of the Year category went to The Reconnect Retreat at Lucknam Park, the serial award-winning 42-bedroom luxury hotel at Colerne, while The Bishopstrow Hotel & Spa, the 32-bedroom historic Georgian country house near Warminster, landed Silver in the Small Hotel of the Year
The Castle Inn in Castle Combe secured Bronze in the Pub Of The Year category. No.15 by GuestHouse, Bath, won silver in the Restaurant of the Year category and was also commended in the Spa & Wellbeing category.
Newton St Loe-based West of England Falconry’s Hawk Walk & Owl Encounter struck Gold in the Experience of the Year category while Corkage, the independent wine bar, won Bronze in the casual dining category.
The Roman Baths and Pump Room has won two awards – Silver in the Wedding Venue of the Year category and Bronze for Accessible and Inclusive Tourism.
Roman Baths and Pump Room manager Amanda Hart said: “Our staff work hard to provide an award-winning experience to all of our visitors, and to ensure that wedding couples and their guests have an amazing and memorable time at the Roman Baths.
“It’s great to have this recognised with two prestigious South West England Tourism Excellence Awards.”
The winners were announced at a ceremony at the Eden Project in Cornwall. A total of 482 entries from across Bath, Bristol, Somerset, Cornwall, Dorset and Devon were submitted for the awards,
