Durham Cathedral which Lilian will guide you round
Visit England has announced the winners for the Awards for Excellence 2016. In order to have reached this stage, entrants had to win their local area awards as well.
One that didn’t have to face this layered judging were BBC’s Countryfile which was given an award for outstanding contribution to tourism due to it raising awareness of England’s rural benefits.
The awards were as follows:
Tourism Superstar 2016 – Lilian Groves, Senior Guide at Durham Cathedral in Durham City won the VisitEngland competition with 22% of the total votes cast. Tourism Superstar celebrates the dedication and passion of those working in the tourism industry that go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure visitors to England have a memorable experience.
Bed & Breakfast: Trevose Harbour House, St Ives, Cornwall
Dog Friendly Business: Higher Wiscombe, Colyton, Devon
Tourism Pub: The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire
Small Hotel: Yorebridge House, Bainbridge, North Yorkshire
Large Hotel: Rockliffe Hall, Darlington, County Durham
Small Visitor Attraction: Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Whitechurch, Hampshire
Large Visitor Attraction: The Whitworth, University of Manchester, Manchester
Taste of England: Eckington Manor, Eckington, Worcestershire
Tourism Experience: Livingstone Lodge Overnight Safari Experience, Ashford, Kent
Holiday Park/ Holiday Village: Woodovis Park, Tavistock, Devon
Self-Catering Holiday Provider: Treworgey Cottages, Looe, Cornwall
Sustainable Tourism: Railholiday, Saltash, Cornwall
Access for All: Hoe Grange Holidays, Matlock, Derbyshire
Visitor Information Provider: Thanet Visitor Information Service, Margate, Kent
Tourism Event: Liverpool City Council – Memories of August 1914, Liverpool
Business Tourism: Crewe Hall, Crewe, Cheshire
You might notice that there are no awards for customer service or customer satisfaction. Obviously Thanet Visitor Information Service with its many outlets throughout Margateand must have displayed a high degree of customer service to have got this far as would Lilian Groves but the fact that there is no named award is disappointing. Given the importance of customer service, any organisation that wins awards for its service would be looked on more favourably than ones without any. In the future visit England and all the regional tourism boards that don’t have an award for customer excellence might consider introducing one.
For a full list of winning and shortlisted businesses, please see www.visitenglandawards.org
