Congratulations to those involved in Isle of Wight Tourism who picked up awards last Thursday at Beautiful South’s Awards for Excellence. Ed
Isle of Wight tourism businesses and events have been awarded regional accolades at the Beautiful South’s Awards for Excellence held at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey on Thursday, 21 October 2010.
The Isle of Wight results for the 2010 Beautiful South Awards for Excellence are:
- Access for All: Gatcombe & Chillerton 2010 Scarecrow Festival (Gold);
- Sunnybank Apartments (Highly Commended)
- Best Tourism Experience: Seaview Wildlife Encounter (Gold); Isle of Wight Zoo (Highly Commended)
- Outstanding Customer Service: Jim Loe, Isle of Wight Steam Railway (Highly Commended)
- Tourist Event of the Year: Isle of Wight Walking Festival (Silver)
Organised by Tourism South East
The annual awards, hosted and organised by Tourism South East, are now in their 20th year and recognise exceptional levels of customer service and dedication to raising standards in the tourism industry. A record number of entries to the prestigious awards led to an impressive shortlist with winners announced by the BBC1 news presenter and guest host, Nicholas Owen, and Tourism South East Chairman, John Williams.
Mike Bedingfield, Chief Executive of Tourism South East said: “We offer our congratulations to all the winners. Our industry’s commitment to providing the best possible customer service and to exceeding customer expectations is outstanding.
“The award winners have shown that they are truly the best-in-class and we look forward to seeing them on the national stage at the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence next April.”
18 categories in all
There are 18 different categories in the Beautiful South Awards for Excellence, from visitor attractions and hotels to self catering accommodation and caravan parks with winners ranked ‘Gold’, ‘Silver’ or ‘Highly Commended’. The Gold Award winners will now go on to compete on the national stage, representing the South East at the Enjoy England Awards for Exellence in Birmingham on 15 April 2011.
Cllr George Brown, Isle of Wight Council Cabinet Member for the economy, tourism, leisure and planning said: “After winning Silver last year, we were absolutely delighted to learn that the council-run walking festival had been short-listed for a second year in a row. To win Silver in what is seen as the premier competition for those operating in tourism today, speaks volumes for the success of the event in attracting visitors to the Island.
“I would like to offer my congratulations to all those involved in staging this major outdoor event, as well as the other Island winners in the various tourism categories.”
View all the winners and finalists at www.beautifulsouthawards.co.uk
