All you need to know – FAQs

Why has the awards seen a big change in categories for this year?

This year the Visit York Tourism Awards is being run in association with the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. The Awards recognise, congratulate and celebrate businesses that deliver amazing experiences for visitors. The Awards champion innovation in tourism and inspire business excellence. The modernised approach, introduced in March 2019, aligns local and regional competitions with the VisitEngland Awards, uniting them with an agreed collaborative purpose, application system and judging process. The application process is easier than ever before. Applicants are only required to complete one application, in one system.

Application forms have been simplified and refocused on: Recent Improvements, Top Qualities, Results and Future Plans. All applicants need to progress through a local/regional competition to reach the national Awards. Eligible winners from the Visit York Tourism Awards will automatically feed into the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2020 for the chance to be recognised as a national winner.

For more information on the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, visit https://www.visitbritain.org/business-advice/enter-awards-excellence or email VEAwards@VisitEngland.org

How do I apply?

All applications for the awards in 2020 will be made online using the centralised Openwater system. Word documents, PDFs and hard copies will not be accepted. The ONLY category which is excluded from this and the Openwater system is the Tourism Champion as this is by nomination rather than application form. We have a separate submission process for this category.

The application process for 2020 is outlined below:
1. Visit visityork.org/tourismawards and browse the categories available for the 2020 Visit York Tourism Awards. Check the accompanying criteria carefully to make sure you are entering the appropriate award for your business.
2. Click on the ‘Enter Now’ link (from any page) or directly go to https://visitengland-chapters.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/YOR/home
3. You will now be in the Openwater online application system. Choose one of the categories you wish to enter.
4. This will take you to a registration page where you will need to create an Openwater account. This will allow you to save your edit and save your application without having to submit in one session. An entry will only be submitted once the application is completed in full and you have hit the ‘Submit’ button.
5. Once registered with an account you can have all the categories you are applying for open as ‘in progress’ and these will show in the menu on the left hand side of the screen under ‘My Applications’.
Please note:
If entering either of the ‘Visit York only’ categories, these can only be accessed through the Home page.
If entering the ‘Taste of York’ award, this is referenced throughout Openwater as the Taste of England Award.
6. Follow the process and questions on screen until you are happy with your final wording. Please note the strict word count – the online system will cut you off once the maximum word count has been reached.
7. Hit ‘Submit’ once you have completed your application. All applications cannot be changed once submitted and should be submitted by 5pm on Monday 6 January.

What are the categories for 2020?

There are 17 categories for the Visit York Tourism Awards 2020:

Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award
B&B or Guest House of the Year
Business Events Venue of the Year
Camping/Glamping/Holiday Park of the Year
Experience of the Year
Event of the Year*
International Tourism Award
Large Hotel of the Year
Large Attraction of the Year
New Tourism Business of the Year
Pub of the Year
Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year
Shop of the Year*
Small Hotel of the Year
Small Attraction of the Year
Taste of York Award
Tourism Champion of the Year*

*Visit York only. These categories are not eligible to go forward to the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.

Are all the categories eligible for the national awards?

Out of the 17 categories for 2020, 14 of those categories are eligible to go forward to the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. The three categories not eligible are Event of the Year, Shop of the Year and Tourism Champion of the Year.

What are the biggest changes for the 2020 awards?

We cannot stress enough that you need to check the new eligibility criteria for each category, there are a number of changes which differ significantly from categories you may previously have entered.

The changes you need to be aware of:

Brand new categories – by introducing and aligning ourselves with as many nationally eligible categories as possible we have the opportunity to showcase excellence in the tourism from across York and Beyond on the national stage
A split in the Hotel of the Year category between Large and Small Hotel. This is led by the national categories and full eligibility criteria can be found here
The criteria and definition of Large Attraction and Small Attraction of the Year are significantly different – please check the full eligibity criteria here
The Experience of the Year category has a new set of eligibity criteria – you may need to apply for the Visit York only category of Event of the Year if you do not fit the new criteria
Applying for certain categories will exclude you from others, for example one business cannot enter both the Pub of the Year category and the Taste of York Award – choosing the one that best suits their business and only entering one, not both. This also applies to the accommodation categories – you may enter only one.
Supporting evidence for all applications can only be submitted as links. Attachments in the form of word documents, PDFs and hard copies will not be accepted.
The word count on each question is STRICT- please note if writing offline and pasting into the online Openwater system, it will cut off at the point which it reaches the word count which if you have gone over may be mid-sentence. Please check your online application carefully before submitting.

Is there a change to how the awards will be judged?

The Visit York Tourism Awards are judged by an independent panel of judges.

For all Awards the first stage is ‘desk judging’ – which is an evaluation of the online applications using a centralised scoring matrix. A shortlist of entrants is then selected from the application who will be our ‘Finalists for 2020’

Our judges look for evidence of excellence and best practice in all areas of the business operation. A strict word limit is set for each section/question and the online system will cut off at the maximum word count.

The finalists are then taking through a second round of judging which will be conducted through a ‘Mystery Shop’ and subsequent report. The judging panel will then meet to make a final decision utilising all the submitted and gathered evidence for the winners.

For further information about the Visit York Tourism Awards 2020, please use the below contacts.

Charlotte Hawes – Events Manager
Heather Lynn – Events Executive

Telephone: 01904 554250 or 01904 554453 Email: events@makeityork.com

If you would like to talk further about membership of Visit York please contact:

Sue Frumin – Business Engagement Manager
Telephone: 01904 554437 Email: sue.frumin@makeityork.com

For all PR and Media enquiries please contact:

Katie Parsons – Coprorate Communications Manager
Telephone: 01904 551846 Email: katie.parsons@makeityork.com

For sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Faye Davis - Sponsorship, Publications and Advert Sales Manager
Telephone: 01904 554620 Email: faye.davis@makeityork.com