Full steam ahead for Tourism Awards

Tourism officials in Yorkshire are excited to announce that the 20th Enjoy England Awards for Excellence will be held in Yorkshire in 2009. This is only the second time that the awards will have been held outside of London.

The chosen Yorkshire venue is York’s National Railway Museum, a unique location which is a popular choice for events. The museum will host the awards on 23rd April 2009.

The announcement follows on from the success of the Yorkshire Tourist Board (YTB) White Rose Awards which are held in September with support from Yorkshire Forward. Fifteen of the White Rose Awards winners have received automatic entry to the England awards.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of YTB:

“There is a sense of real pride in hosting the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence in Yorkshire. This will have a very positive effect on the region’s tourism sector and is a fantastic opportunity to welcome our industry partners from across the country.

“We are incredibly excited to attract England’s biggest tourism awards to Yorkshire, the biggest county in the UK.”

Hugh Taylor, Chair of the VisitEngland Board, adds:

"We were happy to select York because of its accessibility, wide range of accommodation and attractions and not least the commitment, support and enthusiasm of YTB and the National Railway Museum."

The 2008 Enjoy England Awards were held in Liverpool and featured Yorkshire winners including Whitby which was awarded Best Day Out in England as voted for by the general public on the Daily Mail’s travel website.

Another Gold winner was The Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel & Spa, Bolton Abbey, which was awarded Small Hotel of the Year 2008:

"We were thrilled to be named Enjoy England’s Small Hotel of the Year at this year’s awards and it was the start of some great celebrations for us at The Devonshire Arms,” says Managing Director, Iain Shelton.

“Awards are an excellent way to help raise the standards of hospitality across the UK whilst winning gives the staff a real boost as it is mostly down to their efforts that an award of this type is given. However once the excitement has died down it's back to business and we felt it very important not to rest on our laurels. We already had plans in place to transform our bedrooms and this award just gave us the added confidence to go ahead with this major refurbishment, the first phase of which will be completed in early December."

The 2009 awards are expected to see Yorkshire build on its previous successes and are good news for the region’s businesses.

Andy Tordoff, Assistant Director of Environment (Tourism) at Yorkshire Forward, says:

“We are delighted that our region has been selected to host the Enjoy England Awards. This demonstrates that the high standard of Yorkshire and Humber’s tourism offering is recognised by the industry.”