VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023 picks Harry Potter venue for 7 June ceremony
VisitEngland has today announced that this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence will be held at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter on 7 June.
The national awards will see finalists recognised as Gold, Silver and Bronze winners across 16 core categories from the ‘Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award’ to the ‘Resilience and Innovation Award,’ from the ‘Taste of England Award’ to the ‘Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award’.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:
“It’s wonderful to be announcing this exceptional venue in Hertfordshire, one of the jewels in the crown of England’s home-counties, as the location of our 33rd VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. The annual awards recognise the very best of England’s tourism industry, showcasing the outstanding businesses, products and experiences for visitors right across the country. They also highlight the creativity and innovation thriving across England’s tourism industry and acknowledge the people and businesses that work so hard to deliver world-class experiences.”
Deirdre Wells OBE, CEO Visit Herts said:
“It is fitting that we should be celebrating the best of the English tourism industry in an attraction that consistently tops the polls for visitors from home and abroad. As the county which is fast becoming the UK’s Hollywood, we are delighted to be hosting England’s tourism ‘Oscars’ at the site of one of our greatest screen exports. We hope our guests have a magical evening!”
There were more than 350 entries to the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023 comprising local and regional winners from the 16 aligned competitions which have been running across England, who are then automatically entered into the national awards.
In addition to the 16 core categories, four special awards are also being presented including an ‘Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award’, a ‘Travel Content Award’, the ‘Tourism Superstar Award’ and a ‘TXGB Trailblazer Award’.
The three national finalists for each category will be announced following a rigorous judging process by hand-picked tourism industry experts in the coming weeks.
The Caravan and Motorhome Club is the headline sponsor of the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023 as well as sponsoring the ‘Experience of the Year’ category.
Barclays is announced as sponsor of the ‘Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award’ and Sykes Holiday Cottages is sponsoring the ‘Self Catering Accommodation of the Year’ category.
Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, supporting hundreds of thousands of businesses, employing about 2.6 million people and, in 2019, generating £76 billion in domestic visitor spending.
Core Categories:
- Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award – sponsored by Barclays
- B&B and Guest House of the Year
- Business Events Venue of the Year (reintroduced this year, following a break during the pandemic)
- Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year
- Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award
- Experience of the Year – sponsored by the Caravan and Motorhome Club
- Large Hotel of the Year
- Small Hotel of the Year
- New Tourism Business of the Year
- Pub of the Year
- Resilience and Innovation Award
- Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year – sponsored by Sykes Holiday Cottages
- Taste of England Award
- Unsung Hero Award
- Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
- Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
Special Categories:
- TXGB Trailblazer Award
- Travel Content Award
- Tourism Superstar Award
- Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award
The 16 local and regional competitions aligned with the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023 are:
- Beautiful South Tourism Awards
- Cumbria Tourism Awards
- East of England Tourism Awards
- Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism & Good Food Awards
- Lancashire Tourism Awards
- Leicestershire Promotions Tourism and Hospitality Awards
- Destination Lincolnshire Tourism Excellence Awards
- Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards
- Marketing Cheshire Annual Awards
- North East England Tourism Awards
- Peak District & Derbyshire Tourism Awards
- Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTAs)
- South West Tourism Excellence Awards
- Visit York Tourism Awards
- West Midlands Tourism Awards
- Worcestershire Tourism Awards