Wow, what a year! 2018 has absolutely flown by, and it has been the best year yet for Go Cotswolds. There have been so many highlights I barely know where to begin.
Award-winning tours
As well as winning the Cotswolds Awards accolade of “Best Tour Company in the Cotswolds” for the 4th year running, this year we were thrilled to be nominated in the Stratford-upon-Avon Online Awards for the first time. We didn’t win, but it was an honour just to recognised. We also unexpectedly won a Travel & Hospitality Award for “Warwickshire Tour Company of the Year”, and have just found out that we are also finalists in the 2019 Touch FM Pride of Stratford Awards (more about that in another blog post!)!
Highly rated
As the world’s largest peer review travel site, TripAdvisor is a really important platform for us. We were delighted to receive our third consecutive TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2018, and having been second-best for a little while, we became the #1 Tour in Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time this year. At the time of writing, we have amassed 519 TripAdvisor reviews, of which 97% are rated “Excellent”, and the remaining 3% are “Very Good” (I guess some people never give 5 stars!!).
Wonderful customers!
As lovely as it is to win awards and certificates, for us, it’s our customers that make Go Cotswolds a success. This year we have shown the beauty of the Cotswolds to over 1800 people (more than in any other year since we started trading!) on 170 scheduled and private tours.
A notable mention
This year, for the first time ever, we ran four tours a week during the summer months instead of just three – testament to just how popular our tours have become! I’m sure it’s no coincidence that our popularity has increased thanks to a certain US travel guru Rick Steves, who recommended us in his recently revised travel guide to Great Britain! [Edit: see our blog post about this here!]
Time for a little break
But after such a busy year, now it’s time for the Benjamins to have a little rest! Our last tour of 2018 takes place tomorrow (Friday 21st December) – there are still seats available if you fancy a last-minute Christmassy tour of the Cotswolds!
Whats this tree doing in our living room?
After that, we (Tom and Lisa) will be taking a well deserved rest for Christmas and the New Year. Well, I say “a rest”, but with our energetic 17-month-old daughter Zoe around I’m sure it won’t be quite as relaxing as we’d like, but it will certainly be fun! She doesn’t quite “get” Christmas yet, but she’s certainly enjoying all the twinkly lights and decorations!
Tours will resume in February 2019…
…after we have taken a family holiday during January. Tickets for all tour dates from February 2019 onwards are now available to purchase on our website: https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/shop/ – some dates have already started filling up, so make sure you book your place!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
So finally, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been a part of the Go Cotswolds family this year – whether you came on a tour, voted for us in an award, wrote us a review, or just admired our Instagram photos. If you haven’t joined us on a tour before and you are planning to, then we look forward to welcoming you to the Cotswolds in 2019.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Tom, Lisa & Zoe Benjamin