Warwickshire News Mine

Cllr Chris Saint, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, said: “An extremely diverse selection of businesses have been shortlisted from Warwickshire in the awards, and hopefully we will do well in 8 of the 14 award categories to demonstrate the first class visitor attraction across the county.”

These finalists in Warwickshire have been listed:

Business Tourism Award of the Year category:
Heritage Motor Centre, Warwickshire
Woodside, Warwickshire (Kenilworth)

Caravan Holiday Park of the Year category:
Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire

Large Hotel/Townhouse of the Year category:
Coombe Abbey Hotel, Warwickshire

Small Hotel/Townhouse of the Year category:
Mallory Court Hotel, Warwickshire (Leamington Spa)

Self-catering Holiday of the Year category:
Knightcote Farm Cottages, Warwickshire (Southam)

Tourist Information Service of the Year category:
Shakespeare County, South Warwickshire Tourism, Warwickshire

Sustainable Tourism Award category:
The Belfry, Warwickshire

Best Tourism Experience of the Year category:
Talking the Walk, Shakespeare County, Warwickshire

Other shortlisted nominations are:

Shropshire short-listed for 9 Awards
Staffordshire and The Black Country short-listed for 7 Awards
Herefordshire short-listed for 6 Awards
Worcestershire short listed for 4 Awards
Birmingham and Solihull short-listed for 2 Awards

Entries for the awards reached record numbers this year with 117 entries in total.  The most prolific entries came from tourism businesses in Warwickshire with 23 nominations, hotly followed by those from Shropshire with 22, the Black Country with 20, Worcestershire 19, Staffordshire 16 and Birmingham with 10 nominations.
The awards are organised by Tourism West Midlands (TWM), the strategic tourism board of Advantage West Midlands (AWM), in association with the national, Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2008 – the “Oscars” of the tourism industry. There are Gold, Silver and Highly Commended, winners. The Gold winner of each category automatically goes forward to the national Awards.

Brian Summers, said: “We received some outstanding entries this year with some notable improvements in standards.  The nominations short-list created much debate among the judges before a consensus was reached on the overall finalists.”

The final Awards will be announced and presented at a Gala Dinner and ceremony being held at Birmingham’s renovated Town Hall on 23 October 2007. It will be the first private event to be held at the venue for more than a decade.

The full short-listed entries are (in alphabetical order):

Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year
Hopton House, Shropshire
Lowe Farm, Herefordshire
Ternhill Farm House & The Cottage Restaurant, Shropshire

Business Tourism Award of the Year
Black Country Living Museum, Black Country
Heritage Motor Centre, Warwickshire
Woodside, Warwickshire (Kenilworth)

Caravan Holiday Park of the Year
Kingsbury Water Park, Warwickshire
Leek Camping & Caravan Park, Staffordshire
Poston Mill, Herefordshire

Large Hotel/Townhouse of the Year
Best Western Stoke on Trent Moat House, Staffordshire
Coombe Abbey Hotel, Warwickshire
Holiday Inn, Solihull

Small Hotel/Townhouse of the Year
Brockencote Hall, Worcestershire
Dormy House Hotel, Worcestershire
Mallory Court Hotel, Warwickshire (Leamington Spa)

Outstanding Customer Service
Lesley Curnock, Cotswold Conference Centre, Worcestershire
Andrea Hicklin,  Oak House Museum, Black Country (West Bromwich)
David Riley, Dudley Zoological Gardens – Black Country
Thelma Woodfield, Oak House Museum, Black Country (West Bromwich)

Self-catering Holiday of the Year
Knightcote Farm Cottages, Warwickshire (Southam)
White Heron Properties, Herefordshire (Lyonshall)
Woodhouse Farm Cottages, Herefordshire (Ledbury)
Tourist Information Service of the Year
Leek Tourist Information Centre, Staffordshire
Shrewsbury Visitor Centre, Shropshire
Shakespeare County, South Warwickshire Tourism, Warwickshire
Tamworth Visitor Centre, Staffordshire

Tourism Website of the Year
http://www.bclm.co.uk Black Country Living Museum, Black Country
http://www.shropshirebreakfast.co.uk, Hopton House, Shropshire
http://www.visitcoventryandwarwickshire.co.uk Coventry and Warwickshire Tourism

Taste of England
Bridge at Wilton, Herefordshire (Ross on Wye)
Kinnaree Thai Restaurant, Birmingham
Weston Park, Shropshire (Shifnal)

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
Drayton Manor Theme Park, Staffordshire
Royal Air Force Museum, Shropshire, Cosford
Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Black Country

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
Bodenham Arboretum, Worcestershire
Jackfield Tile Museum, Shropshire
Red House Glass Cone, Black Country
Weston Park, Shropshire

Sustainable Tourism Award
The Belfry, Warwickshire
Mocktree Barns Holiday Cottages, Herefordshire
Pearl Lake Leisure Park, Herefordshire (Leominster)

Best Tourism Experience of the Year
Ludlow Marches Festival of Food and Drink, Shropshire
Talking the Walk, Shakespeare County, Warwickshire
Wheely Wonderful Cycling, Shropshire

Link to WCC