Visit York Tourism Awards 2024

On Thursday 14th March 2024, the winners of the Visit York Tourism Awards were revealed at a prestigious awards ceremony at York Racecourse. The Visit York Tourism Awards, headline sponsored by LNER, celebrates the best of York’s businesses across tourism, hospitality and culture and offers each finalist the chance to win one of 17 trophies.

Sarah Loftus, Managing Director at Make It York, said: “The Visit York Tourism Awards celebrate the very best in tourism, hospitality and culture in our city and surrounding areas. There are so many amazing local businesses and organisations that make York a world-renowned city, and these awards are a great way to be able to celebrate all the hard work that goes into providing exceptional visitor experiences."


Winner's Toolkit

You can download your Visit York Tourism Awards Winner logo and social assets here.

These logos are designed to be added to your website to demonstrate your win!


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Visit York Tourism Awards Winners 2024

Business Event Venue of the Year

Winner: The Guildhall, York

Finalists: City Cruises

Sponsored by Business Enterprise Fund

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B&B and Guest House of the Year

Winner: MonkBridge House

Finalists: The Bar Convent Guest House, The Fat Badger, York

Sponsored by York Roast Co.

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Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year

Winner: High Oaks Grange

Finalists: Flaxton Meadows, Wigwam Holidays Ball Hall Farm

Sponsored by Morrell Middleton

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Event, Festival or Cultural Experience of the Year

Winner: Christmas at Castle Howard

Finalists: Hallowscream at York Maze, York Pride, York Mansion House

Sponsored by North York Moors National Park

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Experience of the Year

Winner: The Deathly Dark Tours

Finalists: Sharmini's Inspirational Indian Cuisine, The Bloody Tour of York, The Wizard Walk of York

Sponsored by LNER

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Independent Business of the Year

Winner: The Deathly Dark Tours

Finalists: The Wizard Walk of York, Breezy Knees Gardens, Avorium

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Large Hotel of the Year

Winner: The Grand, York

Finalists: Middletons Hotel (Highly Commended), Moxy York

Sponsored by Streamline Taxis

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Large Visitor Attraction of the Year

Winner: The York Dungeon

Finalists: National Railway Museum, The Web Adventure Park, Yorkshire Air Museum

Sponsored by Ward Hadaway

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New Tourism Business Award

Winner: The Wizard Walk of York

Finalists: Hocus Pocus Tiny Hotel, Hart Lake Escapes (Highly Commended)

Sponsored by PPS Essentials

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Pub of The Year

Winner: The Lime Tree Inn

Finalists: The Fat Badger, York, Social 8 Lounge, The Drovers Arms Restaurant and Country Pub

Sponsored by Hunter Gee Holroyd

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Retailer of the Year

Winner: The Potions Cauldron

Finalists: York Gin, Love Cheese

Sponsored by York BID

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Self Catering Accommodation of the Year

Winner: 101 House At The End

Finalists: Roomzzz Aparthotel York

Sponsored by Pyper York

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Small Hotel of the Year

Winner: The Pheasant Hotel

Finalists: Clementine’s Town House, Hocus Pocus Tiny Hotel

Sponsored by Booking.com

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Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

Winner: World of James Herriot

Finalists: The Bar Convent Heritage Centre, The Hole in Wand, York Army Museum

Sponsored by Shambles Market

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Taste of England Award

Winner: Legacy at The Grand, York

Finalists: Fish & Forest, Ate O’Clock

Sponsored by Fowlers of York

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The Best of York Award

Winner: The Wizard Walk of York

Finalists: Millers Fish & Chips, The Bloody Tour of York

Sponsored by York St John University

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Hospitality Hero Award, in partnership with Hospitality Association York

Winner: Indra Petersone from Hilton York

Finalists: Julia Betteridge from Middlethorpe Hall & Spa (Highly Commended), Hannah Mather from The Principal, York, Sean Alton from York Dungeon

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Judging

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

View our 2024 judging line up ▸

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 2024’

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 taken 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.


Mystery Shopping

This year we will continue to work with our Visit York member and local Regional Director, Ian Sadler from Insight6 to carry out the valuable mystery shopping for the awards. Insight6 is one of the UK's leading Customer Intelligence organisations in the UK who work within the tourism sector and carry out thousands of high quality mystery shops every month.

As part of the process applicants of all categories will have the opportunity to meet with Ian and after the awards ceremony will be offered a review meeting to go through the completed report on your business.

*Only two categories this year will not be mystery shopped – Event, Festival or Cultural Experience of the Year and The Best of York Award. The second round of judging for this category will comprise of a face to face interview.

Please note: Shortlisted businesses must agree to waive all costs associated with the mystery shopper process.

All applicants for the 2024 Awards, including those who do not reach the shortlist stage, will receive feedback on their application via the Openwater system.


Terms and Conditions


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