Burnham was one of six finalists in the running for the sought-after title of ‘coach-friendly town or city of 2013’ alongside Bournemouth, Chesterfield, Liverpool, Shrewsbury and Skipton.
A group of ten residents travelled to Liverpool Cathedral to represent the town at the ceremony, pictured below, where the winner was named as Chesterfield.
However, Burnham was given a special commendation as a town that is doing everything it can to improve its facilities for visitors.
Ian Jefferies, BIARS Business and Tourism Manager, compiled Burnham’s bid with the help of local residents.
He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We are absolutely delighted that recognition has been given to our small town against a lot of major cities.”
“Hopefully being seen in this light by Britain’s largest coach awards will mean that many coaches that haven’t stopped in our town before will now come here and bring in welcome revenue.”
“A lot of work has been carried out over the last few months, collating coach incentives within our town and distributing this package to drivers and coach companies.”
The bid was put together with local residents Les Barber and Helen Brodie with the backing of Sedgemoor District Council’s Head of Economic Development Phil Adams, the Town Team, Chamber of Trade, Somerset Tourism Association and Burnham’s former Mayor, Cllr Ken Smout.
The coach-friendly package for Burnham includes free coach parking from Sedgemoor District Council, plus information for coach visitors from a group of ‘meeters and greeters’ provided by Burnham Town Team.
An information pack has also been put together for coach firms and drivers to show the locations of free coach parking and where drivers can get a free newspaper and meal thanks to the generosity of businesses in Burnham.
Pictured: The team who represented Burnham at the awards ceremony were Ian Jefferies, Les Barber, Helen Brodie, Ken Smout, Tom Ashton, Louise Parkin, Gaynor Brown, Bob Smart, Steph Lewis and Andy Brewer
