The Cream of South East Tourism Go For Gold!
10 March 2006: Tourism South East (TSE) are proud to announce that a record number of tourism businesses from the South East have reached the finals of the National Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2006 - a result not bettered by any other UK region!
Winchester Tourist Information Centre (TIC), Tylney Hall Hotel - Rotherwick, Sandy Balls Holiday Centre - New Forest, Waddesdon Manor - Aylesbury and Kevin Cook, Sargeant from The Guildhall (Sandwich Town Council) are going head to head with other short listed UK tourism products in a bid for gold.
Known as the tourism 'Oscars', the National Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2006 are organised by VisitBritain and sponsored by the Caravan Club. This year there are 12 categories; Large Hotel of the Year (over 35 bedrooms), Small Hotel of the Year (under 50 bedrooms), Self-catering Holiday of the Year, Bed & Breakfast of the Year, Caravan Holiday Park of the Year, TIC of the Year, Large Visitor Attraction of the Year (over 100,000 visitors), Small Visitor Attraction of the Year (under 100,000 visitors), Business Tourism Award, Outstanding Customer Service Award, Taste of England Award and Best Tourism Experience of the Year.
After a rigorous assessment by a board of specialist tourism industry judges, the finalists were chosen from over 100 regional winners from England's nine regional tourism organisations*. England Marketing Advisory Board Chairman Hugh Taylor said: "These finalists have been chosen for leading the way in terms of innovation whilst maintaining quality and excellence in their field. Any holidaymaker can be confident they will enjoy a truly wonderful experience if they visit any one of these finalists."
Judith Barratt, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Communications at TSE said "We are delighted that five of our regional Tourism ExSEllence Award winners have made it through to the national finals. The competition at regional level was particularly intense and as a result our judges are confident that the superb quality and attention to detail demonstrated by these finalists will result in a record number of "medals" for the South East"
The winners will be announced on 20th April at a national awards ceremony held at Madame Tussauds in London.
Entry details for TSE's 2006 Tourism ExSEllence Awards will be available in April. For further information on the awards please contact Jodie Hodge, TSE Corporate Communications Officer on 023 8062 5502 or jhodge@tourismse.com
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For further information please contact Jodie Hodge, TSE Corporate Communications Officer on 023 8062 5502 or jhodge@tourismse.com
Notes to Editors:
The table featuring all of the shortlist in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2006 follows this page
Tourism South East finalists:
Winchester TIC, Hampshire - TIC of the Year
Tylney Hall Hotel, Rotherwick, Hook, Hampshire - Large Hotel of the Year
Sandy Balls Holiday Centre, New Forest - Caravan Holiday Park of the Year
Waddesdon Manor, Nr Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire - Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
Kevin Cook from The Guildhall (Sandwich Town Council), Kent - Outstanding Customer Service Award
Tourism South East is the strategic tourism body for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex.
Tourism ExSEllence Awards are the South East regional heats for the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence. They are the most prestigious regional accolades of their kind, identifying, recognising and rewarding tourism companies achieving the highest possible standards in 14 different categories.
The Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2006 celebrate the best of English tourism. Now in their 17th year, the Awards are known throughout the industry as the 'Oscars' of tourism. They promote healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England's place as a world-class destination.
There are twelve different categories, from visitor attractions to hotels to self-catering accommodation and caravan parks. Entries are submitted to the regional tourism partners and then short listed to the national finals, culminating in the Awards ceremony in April.
VisitBritain is responsible for promoting Britain as a world-class tourist destination and for developing England's visitor economy. It has offices and representatives in 36 countries around the world and in the last three years, has expanded into China, throughout Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, and increased its presence in India with new representatives in Bangalore and Mumbai. An archive of media releases and more details about the work of VisitBritain in promoting Britain as a destination, can be found on the new online press centre, www.enjoyengland.com/presscentre
The Caravan Club - As Europe's premier touring organisation, The Caravan Club represents the interests of over 900,000 caravan, motor caravan and trailer tent owners. The Club operates the largest privately owned network of quality sites in the UK, together with a further 2,500 Certificated Locations (sites that take a maximum of five outfits). For more information visit The Club's award-winning website at www.caravanclub.co.uk. For more press information please contact The Caravan Club Press Office on 01342 336664 or 01342 336768, or email press@caravanclub.co.uk .
* VisitBritain's nine Regional Tourism Organisations are: Tourism South East, East of England Tourist Board, East Midlands Tourism, Heart of England Tourism, Visit London, One NorthEast, Northwest Regional Development Agency, South West Tourism and the Yorkshire Tourist Board.