VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2026 venue and date announced
VisitEngland has today, 9 April, announced that this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence will be held at Aerospace Bristol, under the wings of Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the supersonic passenger jet, on 3 June.
Finalists from 21 local competitions will win Gold, Silver or Bronze at VisitEngland’s 36th annual awards across 16 core categories. Award categories range from ‘Small Hotel of the Year’ to ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ and from the ‘Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award’ to ‘New Tourism Business of the Year’.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:
“We are delighted that this year’s ceremony is in Bristol, home of the iconic Concorde Alpha Foxtrot jet, and a destination globally renowned for its innovation and artistic creativity.
“The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence recognise the very best of tourism in England, showcasing our industry’s outstanding welcome, dedicated staff and the world class experiences on offer. I am especially pleased that we have had a record number of entries to our local competitions this year.”
Kathryn Davies CEO of Visit West said:
“We are thrilled that the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence are coming to the Bristol region for the first time. We can’t wait to welcome the best of England’s tourism offer for a night of celebration under the wings of Concorde highlighting excellence and innovation in the industry.”
There were 1847 applications from the 21 aligned local competitions with the winners then automatically entered into the national awards.
In the lead up to the awards, VisitEngland will announce the three finalists for each category who will go on to gain Gold, Silver or Bronze at the event in June.
In addition to the 16 core categories, special awards are also being presented including the ‘Travel Content Award’ and the ‘Tourism Superstar Award’.
VisitEngland is inviting everyone to be a part of the celebration with tickets on sale for the event and an early bird rate for the first 100 people to book their seat at the table. To buy tickets go to: https://buytickets.at/visitenglandawardsforexcellence/2089275
The Family Holiday Charity is the chosen charity for this year’s event.
Tourism is one of England’s largest, most valuable industries - supporting hundreds of thousands of small-to-medium sized businesses, more than two million jobs and worth £127 billion to the economy in England.
Core Categories:
- Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award
- B&B and Guest House of the Year
- Business Events Venue of the Year
- Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year
- Experience of the Year
- Small Hotel of the Year
- Large Hotel of the Year
- International Tourism Award
- New Tourism Business of the Year
- Pub of the Year
- Regenerative Tourism Award
- Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year
- Taste of England Award
- Unsung Hero Award
- Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
- Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
The 21 local and regional competitions aligned with the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2026 are:
- Beautiful South Awards for Excellence
- Bristol, Bath, Somerset & Gloucestershire Tourism Awards
- Cornwall Tourism Awards
- Devon Tourism Awards
- Dorset Tourism Awards
- Cumbria Tourism Awards
- Discover Northamptonshire Tourism Awards
- Lancashire Tourism Awards
- Leicestershire Promotions Tourism Awards
- Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards
- Marketing Cheshire Tourism Awards
- Norfolk and Suffolk Tourism Awards
- North East England Tourism Awards
- Peak District & Derbyshire Tourism Awards
- Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTAs)
- Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Tourism Awards
- Visit Herefordshire Tourism Awards
- Visit Nottinghamshire Awards
- Visit Worcestershire Tourism Awards
- Visit York Tourism Awards
- West Midlands Tourism Awards