2025 Showcase Marsham Court Hotel, Bournemouth
February 4th – February 6th 2025
Dear Member
AGTO Showcase 2025 – the one event in the AGTO calendar you simply cannot afford to miss!
It’s back!
Our popular AGTO Showcase returns in February 2025 with three days of activity to offer you ideas and inspiration to help you plan your trips and holidays.
Meet up with our magnificent AGTO Partner members in a relaxed, social setting. Renew friendships with fellow GTOs from across the country and find out what they’ve been up to. Take the opportunity to discover more about Bournemouth and the surrounding area.
Have one too many in the hotel bar (just checking to see if you’ve read this far!).
The venue is the excellent Marsham Court Hotel. The hotel offers high-quality hotel accommodation in a wonderful location edging the beautiful Dorset coastline and sparkling sea in Bournemouth. The renovated family owned and operated Marsham Court seafront hotel is a relaxing full-service 4 star hotel complete with an outdoor
pool, excellent for cold water swimming in February, if you fancy! ideally located for investigating Bournemouth.
A refreshing blend of contemporary and friendly seaside ambiance, the hotel offers a welcoming retreat for group breaks. Experience a haven of hospitality with stunning views across Bournemouth Bay. Marsham Court is one of the most accessible hotels in the UK.
Starting with a short Welcome address on Tuesday afternoon followed in the evening by a drinks reception and dinner, along with entertainment.
The invaluable Partner Showcase morning, held on Wednesday, gives GTOs the opportunity to meet established members and new ones for inspiration for their trips and outings, followed by an afternoon of getting out and about with various attractions. The evening provides another opportunity to enjoy each others’ company with a drinks reception followed by our fabulous Gala Dinner and entertainment.
With valuable assistance from Marsham Court Hotel and Visit Dorset we have put together an exciting itinerary of fam trips that will give you the opportunity to “taste” some of the attractions within the area.
The full itinerary for our fabulous AGTO Showcase is over the page, please visit the AGTO showcase page on the website for details and to book. So, make sure you don’t miss this great event by completing the online booking form to secure your place as soon as possible.
Travelling to the venue is simple with regular trains from the North, Midlands and London with taxis available at a small cost from the station and there is plenty of car parking. We are currently looking at coach travel from various locations and will keep you updated on progress.
The AGTO Showcase is a wonderful opportunity, and one of the top benefits of AGTO membership, not only to find new inspiration for your groups, but also to meet with other GTOs and suppliers in a relaxed and unhurried environment. The AGTO Showcase is an event you shouldn’t miss.
I’m really looking forward to welcoming you to the 2025 AGTO Showcase and chatting with you in Bournemouth next February. See you there!
Best wishes,
Wendy Hartley-Scarff, CEO
Itinerary
Tuesday 4th February
Delegates travel to the Marsham Court Hotel
3.00pm Check in to Hotel from this time
4.00pm Welcome to the 2025 AGTO Showcase
4.05pm Presentations – Full programme to be confirmed
7.00pm Networking Drinks Reception
7.30pm Welcome informal dinner
Dress code: business
Wednesday 5th February
8.00am Breakfast in the Plantation Suite
9.30am – 11.30am Associates Exhibition
12 noon Coaches depart for Fam trips
Return 5.00pm approx.
Trip A – Nautical Discovery Trip
Trip B – Battlefield & Justice
Trip C – Art and Architecture
7.00pm Networking Drinks Reception
7.45pm Classic Hollywood Gala Dinner & Entertainment
Dress code: Dress to impress
Thursday 6th February
8.00am Breakfast in Plantation Suite
9.15am Branch AGMs and Meetings
10.30am AGTO Showcase summary & close
11.45am Optional Fam trip
Trip D – Heritage and Herbs
FAM Trip Options
Fam visit A: Nautical Discovery
We take a coach transfer to Poole Harbour and enjoy lunch at La Mia’s restaurant on the quayside. We then step aboard a City Cruises boat for its signature ‘Poole Harbour and Islands Circular Cruise’. During the 70-minute cruise you’ll see picturesque Brownsea Island, the luxury homes on Sandbanks Peninsula, Studland Bay and more. After the cruise we make the short journey to the RNLI College for a guided 90-minute tour that takes you behind the scenes to see the world-class training facilities first-hand, including the Sea Survival Centre and lifeboat simulator.
Fam visit B: Battlefield and Justice
We take a coach transfer and head west into Dorset to visit The Tank Museum at Bovington. 100 years of history is told through a display of 300 tanks and 10 powerful exhibitions. We have light lunch at the Tank Museum before visiting Shire Hall Court House Museum in Dorchester where over 200 years of justice and injustice is brought to life. Walk in the footsteps of people whose lives were forever changed in the historic court and immerse yourself in the cells before ascending to the dock.
Fam visit C: Art and Architecture
We start our tour by crossing the road from the hotel to visit the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, located in a Grade II* listed building originally known as East Cliff Hall. A light lunch is included. We then take a coach transfer along the coast to visit Highcliffe Castle for a one-hour guided walking tour. The castle has been described as arguably the most important surviving house of the romantic and picturesque style of architecture, which flourished at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.
Optional Thursday Excursion – GTOs only:
Fam visit D: Heritage and Herbs
We leave the hotel at 11.30am and take a coach transfer to visit Scaplen’s Court, a fifteenth century Grade I listed house in nearby Poole. The house is now used as a museum focusing on life in Poole between the 15th and 19th centuries, and includes a Victorian schoolroom and kitchen. In February the house will have reopened after the completion of a major transformation. A light lunch will be provided in the upper hall followed by a guided walking tour including the tranquil herb and physic garden at the rear of the building. There will also be an opportunity to see behind-the-scenes at Poole Museum next door as it nears the final stages of its own redevelopment.