New Year Search for Tourism Winners
05/01/2010
Photocall:
Time: 3pm
Date: Friday 8 January 2010
Venue: York Theatre Royal
York Tourism Ambassador 2009, Berwick Kaler, will be available for photography with his award, preparing to pass on the prestigious title in the York Tourism Awards 2010. Meet in York Theatre Royal Reception.
A search for York's best tourism businesses, and York's Tourism Ambassador for 2010, will be launched at the National Railway Museum on Wednesday 13th January. This will mark the beginning of a four-month search to find the pick of the crop in York's tourism industry, culminating in an all star awards finale at the NRM on 22nd April 2010.
Over one hundred businesses are expected to be vying for one of thirteen titles, including:
Hotel of the Year*
Guest Accommodation of the Year*
Self Catering/Caravan Park of the Year*
Conference Venue of the Year*
Award in Culinary Excellence
Taste of York Award*
Visitor Attraction of the Year (under 50,000 visitors)*
Visitor Attraction of the Year (50,000 visitors & over)*
Visitor Experience of the Year*
Marketing Campaign of the Year
Outstanding Customer Service Award*
Employer of the Year
York Ambassador
Winners of selected categories (marked with * in the above list) will automatically go forward to the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards for Tourism which will be held later in the year.
Nominations for the highly prized title of Ambassador for 2010 will be kept secret until the awards ceremony. This award is given each year to someone who has gone beyond the call of duty to promote the city to York's visitors. Last year's winner, Berwick Kaler and the York Theatre Royal Pantomime, will be passing on the title to this year's deserving winner.
Visit York is looking to generate a record number of entries for the awards and inviting all tourism businesses in the city to come along to the launch event to find out how they can apply and get tips on what makes a good entry. Guests will also be offered a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes at the museum - including a tour of Search Engine (the National Railway Museum's £4million library and archive centre), a tour of the hidden treasures in the Warehouse, a chance to climb on board the Mallard, the fastest steam locomotive in the world, or shake and stir their senses on a thrilling ride on the simulator.
Tourism experts from Visit York will be on hand to advise on how your business could become a winner and so benefit from increased bookings and marketing opportunities in the New Year.
John Yeomans, Chairman of Visit York said, ‘The annual York Tourism Awards offer an excellent opportunity for businesses to showcase their achievements. The awards reflect the high quality of customer care that is given to York's visitors, and the commitment of Visit York in driving up standards of product and service in the city's tourism industry - the essential components for encouraging visitors to come back again and again.'
Sponsors of the Visit York Tourism Awards 2010 include DeliciouslyYorkshire, Denison Till, FR Fowler & Son, Fulprint, Jet2.com, Leeds Bradford International Airport, Morrell Middleton, New Vision, Pindars plc, Saville Audio Visual, The Jespers Office, Transdev Blazefield and Yorkshire Laundry Services Ltd.
Emma Farley, Marketing & PR Manager at the NRM, said, ‘Winning Best Visitor Experience for our joint production of The Railway Children with York Theatre Royal in 2009 was a huge honour and something we are incredibly proud of. The production was a really exciting venture for us and to receive a York Tourism Award for it was a real delight. I would encourage York tourism businesses to make sure they get their applications in, as winning an award like this truly cements your position as a leader in your field and puts you firmly on York's tourism map.'
All tourism businesses are invited to attend the event, which includes restaurateurs, retailers and publicans, in the National Railway Museum's Great Hall from 6.00pm. Guests must register in advance with Paul Whiting at Visit York, as spaces are limited. Email paw@visityork.org or tel 01904 554455. The deadline for entries in the Visit York Tourism Awards 2010 is 19th February 2010. Applications can be downloaded at www.vistyork.org/awards from 13th January. ENDS
Press Contact: For more information, please contact Kay Hyde, PR Manager, Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, email: kh@visityork.org Mobile 07961 828092.
Notes to the Editor:
The Railway Children, produced by York Theatre Royal and National Railway Museum won Best Visitor Experience in the York Tourism Awards 2009. The National Railway Museum went on to win the White Rose Award for Visitor Attraction of the Year and is now going forward to the national Enjoy England Awards for Excellence in 2010.
List of last year's winners
Sales Person of the Year
Louise Huckerby
York Marriott Hotel
Behind the Scenes Employee of the Year
Tony Newby
Monkbar Hotel
Front of House Employee of the Year,
Tony Morgan-Taylor
Jorvik Viking Centre
Department Manager of the Year
Valerie Storer
Dean Court Hotel
Award for Outstanding Customer Service
The Grange Hotel
Award for Culinary Excellence
Chris Grant
Dean Court Hotel
Marketing Campaign of the Year,
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Hotel of the Year, sponsored by Matthew Clark
York Marriott Hotel
Guest House of the Year, sponsored by Yorkshire Laundry Services Ltd
Low Penhowe
Self Catering Accommodation of the Year,
York Luxury Holidays
Conference Business of the Year
York Museums Trust
Attraction of the Year
Castle Howard
Visitor Experience of the Year
The Railway Children
Produced by York Theatre Royal and National Railway Museum
Eating Place of the Year
Melton's Too
Employer of the Year
York Marriott Hotel
York Ambassador
Berwick Kaler, York Theatre Royal Pantomime
Visit York
· Visit York is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire and City of York Council. Yorkshire Forward, The Regional Development Agency, funds Welcome to Yorkshire, which is charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber visitor economy.
· Visit York is the driving force of the city's tourism industry. Key facts include:
- the city welcomed 4.09 million visitors (2007/08)
- £364 million total visitor spend (2007/08)
- 80% of visitors to the city were repeat visitors (2007/08)
(08/09 figures to be confirmed shortly)
· Visit York's aim is to market York as a must-see world-class destination to the leisure and business visitor, and ensure investment to develop the quality of tourism in York. Visit York is responsible for leisure and conference marketing, visitor services (running the city's Visitor Information Centre), training and developing the tourism product.