Region’s jewels shine at tourism oscars

THE largest black tie awards event ever held in Yorkshire saw York cement its position as the region’s tourism jewel this week.

The Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards for Tourism 2009 saw the National Railway Museum at York named Visitor Attraction of the Year (50,000 visitors and over), while The Railway Children show by Yorkshire Theatre Royal at the NRM won Best Tourism Experience of the Year.

The Grand Tour by York Museums Trust was named Tourism Event of the Year at the awards, attended by an audience of 835 people at Saviles Hall in Leeds.

The event saw 15 awards presented for Yorkshire’s ‘tourism oscars’ organised by tourism agency, Welcome to Yorkshire.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, attended the awards dinner to present the awards with host, BBC presenter Christa Ackroyd.

Other winners included Sheffield City Hall which won the Business Tourism Award sponsored by Business Link, Swinton Park Hotel in North Yorkshire for Hotel of the Year (under 50 bedrooms) and the Best Western Mount Pleasant Hotel, Doncaster for Hotel of the Year (35 bedrooms and over).

Ripley Castle was named Visitor Attraction of the Year (under 50,000 visitors) while Green’s Restaurant in Whitby won the Taste of Yorkshire Award and Ye Old Sun Inn at Colton, Tadcaster was Yorkshire Pub of the Year.

The Self Catering/Serviced Apartments Award was won by Residence 6 in Leeds.

It has been a record breaking summer for Yorkshire’s tourism industry. Helped by a weak pound and the staycation summer, Yorkshire has outperformed the rest of the UK by reporting increased visitor numbers, increased visitor spend and increased occupancy levels.

Welcome to Yorkshire’s TV advertising campaign has been seen by 11 million people while the website, www.yorkshire.com, has had 161m hits since it re-launched in April.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: “The standard of entrants at this year’s awards has surpassed our expectations and I know the judges have had a really tough job.  With the current economic climate, prestigious award ceremonies such as this are all the more important – Yorkshire tourism deserves its moment to congratulate the best of its colleagues and peers and as a region we certainly have a lot to be proud of.”

Winners of this year’s White Rose Awards will now be entered into the national Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2010.  Last year Yorkshire won three Gold awards beating of hundreds of other national attractions.

Full List of White Rose Awards Winners 2009

Best Tourism Experience of the Year
The Railway Children , York Theatre Royal at the National Railway Museum

Yorkshire Pub of the Year
Ye Old Sun Inn, Colton, Tadcaster

Business Tourism Award of the Year
Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield

Caravan Holiday Park & Holiday Village Award
Lebberston Touring Park, Lebberston, Scarborough

Guest Accommodation of the Year
Cundall Lodge Farm, Cundall, York

Access for All Tourism Award
The Yorkshire Waterways Museum, Goole

Hotel of the Year (under 50 bedrooms)
Swinton Park, Swinton, Masham

Hotel of the Year (35 bedrooms & over)
Best Western, Premier Mount Pleasant Hotel, Doncaster

Outstanding Customer Service Award
Linda Banks, Wakefield TIC, Wakefield

Self Catering/Serviced Apartments Award
Residence 6, Leeds

Sustainable Tourism Award
Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough

Taste of Yorkshire Award
Green’s Restaurant, Whitby

Tourism Event of the Year
York Museums Trust – The Grand Tour, York

Visitor Attraction of the Year (under 50,000 visitors)
Ripley Castle, Ripley

Visitor Attraction of the Year (50,000 visitors & over)
National Railway Museum York