Yorkshire’s top tourism winners named
RUDDING Park near Harrogate collected more accolades at Welcome to Yorkshire’s White Rose Awards.
The tourism awards, which attracted an audience of almost 1,000 people to a glittering black tie event at Doncaster Racecourse, saw at total of 16 winners including family-owned Rudding Park which was named the best Large Hotel in Yorkshire.
Earlier this year it was named ‘Britain’s Best Hotel’ for the second year running in travel website TripAdvisor’s annual Travellers’ Choice Hotel awards.
The Black Swan at Oldstead was judged the Yorkshire Restaurant of the Year and Faweather Grange near Ilkley the best Caravan Holiday Park / Holiday Village.
The largest tourism awards in the UK saw a wide variety of winners named including Larkin with Toads – an exhibition of decorated toad sculptures to celebrate the life of poet Philip Larkin in Hull.
Other winners at the event were: Kilham Hall, Driffield; The Sands Seafront Apartments and Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough; Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield; East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley; The Crown Inn and Robin Hood Caravan & Camping Park both near York; Swinton Park, Masham; Harrogate Tourist Information Centre and Fodder, Harrogate; Newby Hall and Gardens near Ripon and Cannon Hall Farm near Barnsley.
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: “The awards evening
is a spectacularly glittering affair and a real celebration of all that’s amazing about Yorkshire tourism. The judges struggled to draw up a finalists list and choosing the winners from such a wonderful selection of quality entries was a tough task.
“Those who took home a prized White Rose Award should be incredibly proud. Congratulations to everyone who took part and made this the tourism night of the year.”
The awards recognise an industry which is bucking UK trends in terms of visits and spend – holiday visits to Yorkshire were up by 16% between January and May this year compared to a 3% decrease nationally.
The Independent Passenger Survey also revealed overseas visitor spend in the county has soared during the peak summer months, doubling from £33m to £59m in just two years.
Barbara Woroncow OBE, chair of the independent judging panel, added: “Yet again, we have had a record number of entries for the White Rose Awards. However, it is not the quantity that has impressed us but the quality.
“Congratulations to the 16 winners who are a perfect example of how standards have gone up significantly across all sectors of Yorkshire’s strong and diverse tourism industry.”
Winners from this year’s awards will go through to the national Visit England Awards for Excellence in 2012.
