City News

Cadbury World in Bournville has won the Gold Award for Large Visitor Attraction at the Heart of England Excellence In Tourism awards, which celebrates the quality and distinctiveness of the region’s tourism destinations. 

The chocolate themed attraction beat off stiff competition from Drayton Manor Theme Park, Coventry Transport Museum and Shugborough Estate to take the top award at the ceremony, which is often referred to as the regional tourism “Oscars”. 

Cadbury World will go on to represent the Heart of England region at the national Enjoy England Excellence Awards in April 2007. 

2006 has been a year of major development at Cadbury World, with the introduction of two new attractions.  Essence opened in April and provides visitors with a journey through time from an early 20th Century laboratory to a futuristic servery, offering the opportunity to concoct a unique chocolate creation, combining warm liquid Cadbury chocolate with extra special additions such as popcorn or jelly babies. 

Purple Planet, which opened in May, is a completely interactive virtual zone where visitors can be showered in chocolate rain, watch their image re-created in chocolate and chase runaway Cadbury Creme Eggs. 

The award shows that Cadbury World has demonstrated excellence in areas including Customer Care, Food and Drink, Staff Training and Development, Innovative Marketing and Care for the Environment. 

Sir William Lawrence OBE, Chairman of Heart of England Tourism, said: “Cadbury World has been one of the region’s top visitor attractions for many years.  Levels of visitor welcome and customer care offered across the attraction are excellent, as is ensuring those with disabilities can enjoy the whole experience.  Cadbury World has seen ever increasing visitor numbers over the last few years and is now enjoying well deserved success.” 

Cadbury World General Manager Gerrard Baldwin accepted the award at the gala event, which was held at Coventry Cathedral.  He said: “It is a fantastic achievement for the attraction to be recognised by the industry.  The award reflects the staff contribution to customer service and the improvements the new attractions have added to the visitor experience."