On Thursday 5 November, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG) and National Maritime Museum (NMM) scooped two major awards at the glittering Visit London Awards 2009. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich was awarded gold in the Best Tourism Experience and the National Maritime Museum won gold in the Visitor Attraction of the Year categories. The Royal Observatory’s Nick Babbs also picked up bronze in the Outstanding Customer Services Award at the ceremony held at the Westfield Centre.

The awards were presented to the Museum for excellence in the three categories. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich and National Maritime Museum received the awards ahead of competitors such as London Zoo, the Imperial War Museum and BBC Tours.

The Best Tourism Experience award was given for the Royal Observatory’s highly successful contribution to the year-long International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) celebrations. The Visitor Attraction of the Year award was given to the National Maritime Museum, which includes the Royal Observatory and Queen’s House. The Outstanding Customer Services award was in recognition of Nick’s work with families, young people and school groups.

Kevin Fewster, Director said: ‘It is enormously gratifying to receive these awards, especially on top of the record visitor figures we have enjoyed over the past two years. Across our three sites – the Museum, Royal Observatory and Queen’s House – we have received over two million visits, our highest number ever, placing us 8th in the ALVA league table of leading visitor attractions. It is wonderful that the quality of the experience is being recognised as well as the additional numbers. We have world-class staff who take a real delight in striving for excellence in delivery.’