25/03/2010

Cooking up a storm at the Cooking Rooms at Clifton Moor this week, five bright young chefs will be taking part in a ‘master chef' style cook-off, hoping for the top spot in one of thirteen categories in this year's Visit York Tourism Awards.

Five of York's brightest young chefs have been shortlisted and invited to take part in the ‘cook off' to determine the winner of the Award in Culinary Excellence.
All were asked to submit a three course menu showcasing the best of Yorkshire produce, combined with their creativity and skill in the kitchen.

Whilst more used to operating as a cookery school, The Cooking Rooms are delighted to be involved in this Award and welcoming the experts through their doors. Manager Luke Norbury, said, ‘food and drink is a huge part of the visitor experience. York is very fortunate in having a wide range of eateries and some fantastic up and coming talent in the kitchen. We're delighted to support the York Tourism Awards by helping to drive up standards in the tourism industry.'

Following record entry levels, Visit York today announces the line-up of finalists for the 2010 York Tourism Awards, in the thirteen categories below. The coming weeks will now be spent judging those shortlisted and the winners will be announced at a black-tie awards ceremony, to be held at the National Railway Museum on Thursday 22 April.

Now in their thirteenth year, Visit York Tourism Awards recognise excellence in the city's tourism industry. The event, to be compered by Gervase Phinn - writer, broadcaster and fiercely proud Yorkshireman - and sponsored by over twenty York businesses - will celebrate companies and individuals that go that extra mile for their visitors.

The highly prized title of York Ambassador, awarded each year to someone who has gone far beyond the call of duty to promote the city to York's visitors - last year awarded to Berwick Kaler - will be kept a closely guarded secret, revealed only at the awards ceremony.

Gillian Cruddas, Chief Executive of Visit York, said, ‘This year has seen a very high standard of entries from across the industry and shortlisting by our independent panel of judges has been a challenging process. I would like to send my congratulations to the individuals and businesses that have reached this important stage and wish them the best of luck.'

Finalists are as follows:

Hotel of the Year - Sponsored by Yorkshire Laundry Services

Dean Court Hotel
Feversham Arms Hotel & Spa
Grange Hotel
Hedley House Hotel
York Marriott Hotel

Guest Accommodation of the Year - Sponsored by Barry Crux & Co

Carlton House
Low Penhowe
Monkgate Guest House

Self Catering/Caravan Park of the Year - Sponsored by New Vision

Dovecote Barns
Jollydays Luxury Camping
Robin Hood Caravan & Camping Park

Conference Venue of the Year - Sponsored by Saville Audio Visual

Burn Hall
National Railway Museum
York Marriott Hotel

Taste of York - Sponsored by Morrell Middleton

The Black Swan at Oldstead
Café Harlequin
Melton's Restaurant
Ye Old Sun Inn

Award in Culinary Excellence - Sponsored by DeliciouslYorkshire

Darrel Burnham - Burn Hall
Tom Banks - The Black Swan, Oldstead
Mark Ireland - Royal York Hotel
Michael Newlove - York Marriott Hotel
Matthew Hyde - York Marriott Hotel

Visitor Attraction of the Year (under 50,000 visitors) - Sponsored by The Jespers Office

Go Ape!
The Ice Factor
Yorkshire Lavender

Visitor Attraction of the Year (50,000 visitors and over) - Sponsored by York City Sightseeing

JORVIK
York Dungeon
York Maze
Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial

Visitor Experience of the Year - Sponsored by F R Fowler & Son

Complete York
JORVIK Viking Festival
Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival - York Racecourse
York Maze

Marketing Campaign of the Year - Sponsored by Leeds Bradford International Airport

North Yorkshire Moors Railway
York Castle Prison
York Maze

Employer of the Year - Sponsored by Denison Till

The Living Room
Royal York Hotel & Events Centre
York City Centre Premier Inn
York Marriott Hotel

Outstanding Customer Service Award - Sponsored by Pindar Plc

Anna Hendry-Smith - Hotel Chocolat
Paula Medwell - LK Bennett
Simon Moss - The Living Room
Sue Towler - National Railway Museum

York Ambassador Award - Sponsored by Ware and Kay
To be announced 22 April

The Visit York Tourism Awards ceremony is open to any business with an interest in tourism and tickets can be booked by calling Paul Whiting on 01904 554426 or at www.visityork.org/awards 

Gillian continued, ‘We know that the last twelve months have continued to present challenging times for many businesses. We believe it is more important than ever to provide recognition for the work going on here in York to welcome the city's four million annual visitors.' ENDS

For further information please contact:

Kay Hyde - PR Manager - Visit York
Direct Line: 01904 554451
Mobile: 07961 828092
Email: kh@visityork.org

Katie Porter - PR Executive - Visit York
Direct Line: 01904 554436
Email: kp@visityork.org

Notes To The Editor

Judges of the cook-off at the Cooking Rooms will be: Andrew Coney (Cedar Court Grand), Gary Verity (Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire), Annie Stirk (Absolutely Food/Yorkshire Life), Sarah Richardson (Regional Food Group) and Steve Morrell (Morrell Middleton).

Visit York

Visit York is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire, City of York Council and tourism businesses. Yorkshire Forward, The Regional Development Agency, funds Welcome to Yorkshire, which is charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber visitor economy.

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.

· Key Tourism facts for Yorkshire include:
- Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £6.5 billion annually
- The region's industry employs a quarter of a million people
- There are 209 million visits to Yorkshire each year

· Visit York is the driving force of the city's tourism industry.
- the city welcomed 4.09 million visitors (2007/08) - 2008 figures to be announced shortly.