Cornwall strikes gold

The best of the South West were celebrating on Monday night (24th November 2008) at the South West Tourism Excellence Awards - and among them were twelve businesses from Cornwall. Having already reigned supreme in the Cornwall Tourism Awards last month the businesses earned a place in the regional awards and raised the flag for Cornwall with honours in no less than 12 of the 15 award categories.

The Awards evening which took place at The Cadbury House Hotel, Somerset concludes a rigorous and independent judging process which saw entrants’ mystery shopped as well as assessed through a written application.

The star of the night for Cornwall was the Bedruthan Steps Hotel which sits on the coastline in Mawgan Porth, near Newquay. Having scooped the coveted gold title of Large Hotel of the Year it went on to take home the silver award for Sustainable Tourism as well in the Business Tourism of the Year category.

Another noticeable win for Cornwall came from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall which was presented with gold for Large Attraction of the Year. Museum Director Jonathan Griffin says: “After having our busiest summer ever I said that winning Gold at the Cornwall Tourism Awards was the icing on the cake, so this must be the cherry on top! Everyone at the Museum is so passionate and committed that it really is wonderful to see all our hard work being rewarded.”

Penny Woodman of VisitCornwall was at the Awards evening to see the Cornish winners collect their trophies and is proud with Cornwall’s achievement: “These awards highlight the high quality of the Cornish tourism industry and are testament to the investment being made to ensure Cornwall’s place as a world-class visitor destination.

“Our gold winners will now go on to represent the region at the national Enjoy England Awards and with such high quality companies I’m sure they won’t be coming home empty handed.”