Tourism awards under way

APPLICATIONS for the Lancashire Tourism Awards are open, with local businesses urged to apply.

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced at an event in Blackburn Cathedral, the Cathedral of Lancashire, on Thursday, November 10.

The event is organised by Marketing Lancashire and supported by Blackburn with Darwen Council, with the University of Central Lancashire as headline sponsor.

Nineteen categories, from Best Hotel to Small Visitor Attraction, offer a wide range of tourism businesses the opportunity to highlight their success and valuable contribution to Lancashire’s growing visitor sector.

The sector contributes £3.7bn to Lancashire’s economy and provides employment for more than 56,000 people.

Two new categories make an appearance for 2016, the Boutique Accommodation Award, aimed at more individually styled accommodation, and The Lancashire Producers And Makers Award celebrates producers or makers of food and drink, artisan crafts or local products, that contribute to the visitor experience and champion Lancashire distinctiveness.

The full list of categories, criteria and tips for applicants, plus the short application forms can be found at www.lancashiretourismawards.com

Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire said: “Lancashire’s tourism industry continues to grow and raise standards of excellence... Over 63 million visitors already choose Lancashire for their short breaks and days out and as a sector, we aim to raise that to 70 million by 2020.”

He added: “Each year the Lancashire Tourism Awards helps tease out some of the county’s real gems, reveals our best in class and celebrates our most successful tourism businesses in all these areas, providing a platform on which they can stand proud as the whole county acknowledges their huge achievement.”