West Midlands safari park turn down ‘Worcestershire’ name change
A tourism manager suggested changing the name of West Midlands Safari Park to Worcestershire Safari Park during a rebranding exercise last year
West Midlands Safari Park turned down a suggestion to rename the attraction after the county it is in.
A tourism manager suggested calling it Worcestershire Safari Park during a rebranding exercise last year.
But park bosses opted to add an S into its old name West Midland Safari Park.
The safari park also introduced a new logo and “brand identity” in February 2024.
The subject had come up at a meeting of Worcestershire County Council’s economy overview and scrutiny panel this week.
Councillor Marcus Hart was asking how visitors to the safari park could be encouraged to spend more time in Worcestershire.
“People drive in for the day, go to the safari park and drive home,” he said. “Two miles down the road we’ve got the fabulous Georgian town of Bewdley.
“What do we do in terms of working with our major tourist attractions like the Severn Valley Railway and the West Midlands Safari Park – and others – to work together collaboratively, that people come for the weekend that people then spend in the restaurants, the pubs, the shops, the car parks, the museums and all the rest of it?”
Lorna Robinson, visitor economy and destination manager at Visit Worcestershire, said the safari park and Severn Valley Railway are “very much across the fact we’re pushing for overnight stays and pushing that love out across the whole county”.
“Both of them have areas on their website where they talk about areas outside of their own business,” she said.
“It’s quite hard to find on the safari park’s website and when they rebranded they weren’t going to go for Worcestershire Safari Park, which I did suggest, but it was worth a try.
“They are very much working with us on that message and they’re very good on the accessibility message as well.
“It’s a shame the number of people who come into the safari park and leave the county.”
She said more money has been spent on advertising Bewdley on social media, especially since the re-opening of the town’s bridge after two years of flood defence work.