The Tourism Awards in Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Bath and Somerset (incorporating Wiltshire and Gloucestershire) and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are now open.
The awards are free to enter and last year’s participants said they were invaluable; great for business, staff morale, recruitment, networking and the free feedback given was a brilliant tool to enable them to get even better.
There are awards for accommodation, food and drink, wedding and business venues, unsung heroes, dog friendly, new business, accessibility, sustainability as well as events, experiences, visitor information, attractions and new for this year is an International Tourism Award. Businesses are encouraged to enter as many categories as they are eligible for.
A series of online workshops are being held to help businesses produce their best entry and can be booked here.
Robin Barker, awards director said “This is a fantastic opportunity for those working in tourism and hospitality to raise their profile and get recognition for all their hard work”.
Different schemes run in the region and entrants should select the one where their business, event or experience is located:
• Bristol, Bath and Somerset (incorporating Wiltshire and Gloucestershire)
• Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
• Devon
• Dorset
With Wiltshire and Gloucestershire businesses now being included within the Bristol, Bath and Somerset scheme, the separate South West Regional programme is being discontinued. This means that for relevant categories the winners from each of the above county schemes could feed directly into the VisitEngland awards in 2025.
Entries must be submitted online by Sunday 23rd June.
The launch coincides with VisitEngland’s announcement of the national 2024 Finalists and we offer our Congratulations to the 9 successful nominees from the South West. The awards will be presented at the Rum Warehouse at The Titanic Hotel Liverpool on 5 June.
The successful South West nominees, all of them winners in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards in March, are:
B&B and Guest House of the Year
Bossington Hall, Somerset
Small Hotel of the Year
THE PIG-at Harlyn Bay, Cornwall
New Tourism Business of the Year
Sleepy Owl Devon, Devon
Pub of the Year
The Acorn Inn, Dorset
The Peterville Inn, Cornwall
Self Catering Accommodation of the Year
My Cottages in St Ives, Cornwall
Sleepy Owl Devon, Devon
Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
Nothe Fort (operated by Weymouth Civic Society), Dorset
Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire
The national awards, now in its 34th year, will see the finalists from 16 regional competitions recognised as Gold, Silver and Bronze winners across 15 core categories. There were more than 1730 applications from the 16 aligned regional competitions who were automatically entered into the national awards.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said: “The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence showcase England’s outstanding tourism products and the innovation and creativity thriving within the industry. The awards also acknowledge the people and businesses that work so hard to provide visitors with world-class tourism experiences, delivering exceptional customer service time-after-time.”
