Tourism Excellence Awards 2009 - 2010 Winners Revealed

The best of the South West Tourist Industry are celebrating as the South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2009-2010 come to an end for another year.

The awards night is the highlight of the tourism calendar; winners had to wait until the actual awards event on the 23 November at Saunton Sands Hotel, Devon to find out whether they had won a prestigious Gold or Silver tourism award.

The 15 Gold Award winners at this year’s awards will all now go on to represent the region at the National Enjoy England Awards for Excellence in 2010.

This year’s event also celebrated the ‘Winner of Winners' Award which went to the Eden Project, Cornwall for its inspirational role as well as superlative visitor experience.

The awards have proven their worth in presenting an opportunity for businesses to showcase their quality not just to the media and customers, but to build morale amongst staff and gain recognition throughout the community.  Entrants also valued the feedback from judges and mystery shoppers, all designed to help them further enhance their visitor offering.  To win, entrants needed to demonstrate outstanding levels of customer service, plus exemplary facilities, informative and inspirational websites, along with a commitment to sustainability and being accessible to all.

Resort Marketing Ltd was proud to sponsor the Tourist Information Service of the Year Award. Gold prize winner was Gloucester Tourist Information Centre with Salisbury Tourist Information Centre and Yeovil Heritage & Visitor Information Centre taking the Silver awards. Runners up were Somerset Visitor Centre (M5 Sedgemoor) and Purbeck Information & Heritage Centre.

Brian Cooper, Managing Director of Resort Marketing Ltd, who announced the winners in this category, said: “It was a memorable occasion; the buildup of excitement in the room was electric. I know from judges’ comments that there was very little between the entrants in our category, all of whom had been visited by secret shoppers. Our congratulations go to both the winners and the other finalists for providing such a high level of service in what are trying times in both the public and private sectors.”

Read more about the Awards and download the complete list of winners and finalists here: http://bit.ly/8ABVxF

A seminar presented by Robin Barker, organizer of the awards, will take place at Visit 2010 on January 23rd at Westpoint Arena, Exeter. For details go to www.visitshow.co.uk