Two of Sherwood Forest’s visitor attraction spots have scooped prestigious awards from Visit England, the nation’s national tourism body for the year 22/23. Forestry England’s Sherwood Pines and RSPB Sherwood Forest have both come in for recognition for outstanding work over the course of the last year.
Visit England Visitor Attraction Accolades are designed to celebrate excellence within the visitor attraction sector and showcase businesses in their Visit England Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme. The scheme recognises high quality visitor experiences across England and have been awarded to just 91 organisations across the country following an assessment from the tourism board.
Forestry England’s Sherwood Pines has been awarded the Welcome award recognising their excellent welcome for guests. RSPB Sherwood Forest have been awarded the Gold award which recognises outstanding work across all of Visit England’s scoring categories.
Visit Nottinghamshire’s Business Development Manager, Annette Thornley, said: “We’re so proud of Sherwood Pines and RSPB Sherwood Forest for winning these prestigious awards from Visit England. The awards are a testament to their hard work and commitment to providing an excellent visitor experience for visitors to our region.
“Sherwood Forest is famous across the world and is a huge draw for visitors to the region. It’s the jewel in Nottinghamshire’s crown, and ensuring that visitors have a great experience when they visit is key to sustaining our outstanding tourism offer."
Jess Dumoulin, Visitor Experience Manager at RSPB Sherwood Forest, said: “This is fantastic news for us. We pride ourselves on providing the best possible visitor experience at Sherwood Forest. We are continually looking at ways in which we can deliver a high standard in everything we do and to make improvements, whether it is the welcome our visitors receive when they arrive or the events programme we run throughout the year.
“We have seen the return of many more international visitors in the past 12 months since the end of the pandemic and had lots of excellent feedback from families who have come to Sherwood to have a fun day out.
“It’s a great place to learn more about the legend of Robin Hood and to connect with nature in this fabulous and incredibly rare ancient oak woodland.”
Sherwood Pines Forest Centre Manager, Neil Barnes said: “The team and I are delighted to receive this award. Forestry England's Sherwood Pines is such a special place for the people of the East Midlands. The award shows that the work we do really helps visitors make the most of their days out in the forest. Whether that includes an activity trail with the kids, a blast around our cycle trails, a walk to relax and connect with nature or a round of disc-golf. We’re so glad they enjoy the welcome!”
Councillor Keith Girling, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Asset Management at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “We have a fantastic tourism offering in the county so it’s brilliant to hear that these two iconic destinations have been recognised with esteemed awards from Visit England. Set in the home of our county’s legendary outlaw, Robin Hood, they each play a pivotal role in not only our county’s, but the regional visitor economy offer.
“The County Council has been working in partnership with RSPB to manage Sherwood Forest for over five years, enriching the experience of thousands of visitors that come from all over the world to enjoy the forest, whilst protecting, conserving, and enhancing the ecology of the forest. This award recognises the hard work of the partnership and what it has achieved to date.”