July 8, 2013
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia State Museum has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide. Only the top-performing 10 percent of businesses listed on TripAdvisor receive this prestigious award.
“TripAdvisor is delighted to celebrate the success of businesses around the globe, which are consistently offering TripAdvisor travelers a great customer experience,” said Alison Copus, vice president of marketing for TripAdvisor for Business. “The Certificate of Excellence award provides top-performing establishments around the world the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers.”
“The State Museum is pleased to receive a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence,” said Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. “It is an honor to receive this accolade, and the fact that we are considered among the top 10 percent of museums in the world recognizes the hard work and dedication to customer service of our fine staff.”
With more than 6,000 artifacts on display and themes that focus on the state’s lands, people and culture, the West Virginia State Museum offers a dynamic look at our state’s history – from prehistoric times to today. The museum offers an innovative education program for students in preschool through 12th grade that features state-of-the art technology and extensive lesson plans for teachers. The museum, founded in 1894, is recognized as one of the premier institutions in the United States and includes a collection of more than 60,000 pieces.
TripAdvisor is one of the world’s largest travel sites, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors, and more than 100 million reviews and opinions.
To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor, and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the past 12 months.
For more information, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, at (304) 558-0220 or at Caryn.S.Gresham@wv.gov
The West Virginia State Museum, located in the Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org.
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