Category: Unique Accommodation Award
Who should enter?
Northern Ireland is full of fun and usual places to stay. This category is open to accommodation providers who go beyond conventional accommodation to provide an exceptional and distinctive tourism experience. Entry is encouraged from themed accommodation, activity breaks and non-traditional accommodation such as glamping pods and houseboats.
Category criteria
- Please put all your answers in the boxes provided
- Responses should not exceed 500 words per question
(Words over this limit will be discounted and ignored)
Please provide as much detail as possible when illustrating your response to the following questions/topics to help facilitate judging of your entry:
- Demonstrate how your accommodation provides something new, unique or different to create a memorable visitor experience
- How does your business provide an authentic NI experience?
- Entrants must show evidence of improvements in visitor experience from using feedbacks from guests and professional bodies.
- Demonstrate how your business has gone the extra mile in service, customer care and staff development (if appropriate)
NB: Due to the ‘unique’ nature of this category, you are asked to provide images of your accommodation. Please limit this to 2 images. Provision of additional information in the form of images is restricted to this category only.
In addition, we have provided examples and guidance on the type of information that would help to strengthen youranswer.
Each question is worth 10 marks with a total of 40 marks available for each category.
Additional Criteria
Please read the General Notes for Guidance and Tourism NI Best Practice Guidelines for further pointers to help you when formulating your entry answers. (Available on the website “How to Enter NITA 2017”)
Where possible, you should include evidence in your answers based on the information included in these documents.
How your entry is scored
Each question is worth 10 marks with a total of 40 marks available. Scores will be moderated by the judging panel based on the scoring matrix below.
Score / Justification / Score / Justification0 / Absolutely no evidence offered / 6 / Evidence is good (but could be better)
1 / Limited irrelevant evidence provided / 7 / Good evidence and benefits for the operator drawn out and understood
2 / More evidence offered but it’s irrelevant / 8 / Evidence and benefits for business well articulated
3 / Evidence offered had limited relevance to operator / 9 / Very good evidence and implications for operator very well presented
4 / Evidence does have some relevance but incomplete (or lessons for business are unclear) / 10 / Evidence exceptionally good and benefits for business very clear
5 / Evidence useful, but not enough of it to draw strong conclusions
Following initial shortlisting by the Judging Panel, shortlisted entries will then go forward to the final stage of judging, which for this categoryis assessed by Mystery Shop.
Applicant Information – This information is compulsory
Contact Name:Title/Role:
Organisation:
Address:
Postcode:
Email:
Telephone Number:
Mobile Number:
Website/Webpage:
How did you hear about these awards?
Entry Information - This information is compulsory
Project or Business Name:Please provide a synopsis of the property/business/festival/event you are entering in approximately 20 words which will be used in publicity
Please provide a jpeg image of the property/business/festival/event you are entering which will be used in publicity
(If you are sending your image as an attachment when entering rather than inserting it to this document please make a note here)
Company Information – This information is compulsory
Total Number of Employees:Number of Employees in
Owner/Management Roles:
Number of Full Time Staff:
Number of Part Time Staff:
Type of Organisation: / Small Private Business
(less than 10 employees)
Medium Private Business
(11-50 employees)
Large Private Business (51+ employees)
Association or Information Partnership
Multinational or Subsidiary
Community Organisation
Public Sector
Charity
Description and Nature of Business:
Number of years in business:
Question 1 (10 marks)
Demonstrate how your accommodation provides something new, unique or different to create a memorable visitor experience
NB: Perhaps you are one of the first businesses to offer this type of experience in Northern Ireland, or you have formed alliances with local food suppliers, artists or producers to encourage innovation and increate revenue generation
NB: Each answer must not exceed 500 words. Words over this limit will be discounted and ignored.
Response:
Question 2 (10 marks)
How does your business provide an authentic NI experience?
NB: Tell us how your business incorporates local people, culture and environment and/or heritage to create a distinctly NI experience. For example, do you use local produce and suppliers in your food offering or how do you use the local environment to bring the visitor experience to life?
NB: Each answer must not exceed 500 words. Words over this limit will be discounted and ignored.
Response:
Question 3 (10 marks)
Entrants must show evidence of improvements in visitor experience from using feedback from guests and professional bodies
NB: Outline how you monitor customer satisfaction, response to customer feedback, examples of comments and what impact they have had on your business. You may wish to show areas where you have improved service quality and customer experience to ensure your business stands out from others. You may also wish to detail any market research undertaken, who you have benchmarked against and if you have participated in Tourism NI’s Quality Grading Scheme or similar.
NB: Each answer must not exceed 500 words. Words over this limit will be discounted and ignored.
Response:
Question 4 (10 marks)
Demonstrate how your business has gone the extra mile in service, customer care and staff development (if appropriate).
NB: How has your establishment differentiated itself from the competition in terms of customer care and hospitality? In what way has your vision for your establishment contributed to the quality of your product and service delivery to customers? Tell us what systems, processes and training are in place to support your vision and customer care, as well as anything that makes your establishment special (i.e a warm welcome, value for money, unique atmosphere). You may wish to include any awards, relevant qualifications and/or achievements secured over the last 12 months.
NB: Each answer must not exceed 500 words. Words over this limit will be discounted and ignored.
Response:
Declaration
I declare that the information supplied is correct to the best of my knowledge at the time of entry and agree to abide by the Terms and Conditions found on the website.
I accept the terms and conditions of this application as stated above.
PRINT/TYPE NAME: ______
CLOSING DATE is MONDAY 6th February 2017 at 5pm
Please email your completed entry form to
1