VisitEngland has today, 1 April, announced the finalists who will go forward to the tourism industry’s national Awards for Excellence.
The 52 finalists, selected following a rigorous judging process by handpicked tourism industry experts, go on to compete in 16 core categories at the national awards in June.
The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence have been championing the best in England’s tourism industry for more than three decades and celebrate quality, innovation, best practice and exceptional customer service.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:
“England’s tourism industry has good reason to celebrate. As the finalists demonstrate, businesses across every region provide outstanding customer service along with high quality experiences while constantly innovating to find new ways to give more to visitors and the communities they serve.
“The applications to this year’s awards and the list of finalists are a testament to the range of first-class products on offer to both domestic and international visitors. I congratulate all the finalists who are already winners, and I wish them the very best of luck.”
The awards’ categories range from ‘B&B and Guest House of the Year’
and ‘Experience of the Year’ to ‘Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year’ and ‘Large and Small Visitor Attraction of the Year’. In addition to the 16 core categories, two special awards are also being presented including a ‘Travel Content Award’ and the ‘Tourism Superstar Award’.
This year’s awards worked in collaboration with 21 local competitions from across England with winners automatically put forward for the national awards.
There were 1,800 applications to the 21 aligned local awards with 360 applicants forwarded for judging in the VisitEngand Awards for Excellence. These were made up of businesses including hotels, self-catering accommodation providers, B&Bs, glamping operators, visitor attractions, restaurants, pubs and museums.
Finalists are invited to attend the national awards ceremony, held at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on 4 June, where Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be announced at the black tie event.
Tourism is one of England’s largest, most valuable industries, supporting more than 200,000 businesses, employing 2.6 million people and generating about £76 billion in domestic visitor spending.
