South West is star of tourism awards shortlist
THE South West has secured 15 of the 45 places in the finals of this year’s Visit England tourism awards for excellence – the best showing in the event’s history.
The finalists were announced yesterday following what Visit England called “a rigorous judging process by hand-picked tourism industry experts”. All will now go forward to compete at the national awards. The winners will be announced at an event in Birmingham on June 8.
Among the finalists, winners in their categories in the South West Awards, are Mylor Sailing and Powerboat School in Cornwall, which is nominated for an Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award and as Experience of the Year.
Also on the shortlist are Pitt Farm Holiday Cottages at East Allington, near Kingsbridge, up for self-catering accommodation of the year; Three Mile Beach at Hayle, for new tourism business of the year; The Idle Rocks, St Mawes, for small hotel of the year; and West Bay Discovery Centre in Dorset, which is vying for an ehtical, responsible and sustainable tourism award.
Two South West pubs, Dorset’s Acorn Inn at Evershot, near Dorchester,
and the Cotley Inn at Chard, Somerset, are both finalists for pub of the year.
Robin Barker, of Services for Tourism, who runs the South West tourism awards across the region and selects winning entries that go forward nationally, said there were “big smiles all round” at the region’s success.
“I remember when the South West had just one national finalist at these awards and other regions like Yorkshire were walking away with it,” he said.
“I believed we could do better and now, year on year, we have been proving that. This year something like one third of the finalists are from here in the South West – that is some achievement.”
Robin said one of the key reasons for the boost was the enthusiasm shown by tourist businesses in the South West to enter their own county awards. “We give far more feedback to entrants than they do in other areas and that encourages people to enter,” he said. “That has certainly played a part in improving the region’s showing in the national finals.” But he said tourist businesses across all sectors in the South West has made huge improvements in the past 20 years – and that was being reflected in their popularity with visitors and their success in awards.
“South West tourism businesses have recognised they can be the best in the world and they have worked to attract more customers through being better at what they do,” he said.
Entries for the 2022-23 awards in Devon and Cornwall are now open. Full details are available at devontourismawards.org.uk and cornwalltourismawards.org.uk