York Racecourse features prominently in Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme

·         York Racecourse confirmed as in the Top 10 English & Welsh racecourses

·         York Racecourse wins RCA Excellence Award for its welcome to racegoers

·         Assessments conducted by respected authorities Live Tourism and VisitScotland

·         All British Racecourses receive opportunity for objective assessment of raceday experience

York Racecourse is honoured to have featured prominently in the results of the 2022 Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme as conducted by Live Tourism (England and Wales).

Live Tourism, responsible for all assessments in England and Wales, confirmed York as in the top 10 racecourses for raceday experience in 2022, however the programme nominates no absolute winner rather celebrating the success a broader group of industry leaders being York (then alphabetised): Aintree, Ascot, Beverley, Cheltenham, Chester, Doncaster, Haydock Park, Newbury and  Newmarket.

The Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme, established in 2013, aims to objectively assess the raceday experience from the perspective of customers and sees each racecourse visited by a trained assessor from Live Tourism or VisitScotland. The assessments analyse all touchpoints of the customer experience including pre-raceday information, the on-course experience and post-raceday communications.

A separate accolade came to the York team having as amongst those considered as exemplary in offering the “warmest welcome”.

William Derby, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course at York Racecourse said, “Everyone involved in a York raceday wants to offer the best customer experience that they can, so I’m delighted that these efforts have been recognised by the experienced assessors at Live Tourism. Their detailed feedback will also help us to keep improving as we plan for the return of racing on Wednesday 17 May 2023”.

Paul Swain, the RCA’s Raceday Experience & Communications Manager, said “We were pleased to reintroduce the Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme demonstrates the RCA and its members’ ongoing commitment to reviewing and enhancing the raceday experience.

2022 has been a challenging year for racecourses with inflation, soaring energy bills and the wider cost of living crisis. This, along with the difficulties of securing staff, has meant that racecourses have had to adapt and innovate to continue to offer the experiences our racegoers are accustomed to.

I’m delighted to see a number of racecourses recognised by experts at Live Tourism .The generous sharing of best practice across our members is second to none and we look forward to continue facilitating this in 2023.”