Durham businesses were celebrating after scooping a number of prestigious awards at the 2018 North East England Tourism Awards last night.
The awards, which were announced at a glittering ceremony in Newcastle Civic Centre’s Banqueting Hall, shine a spotlight on the tourism industry. BBC Radio Newcastle breakfast show presenter Alfie Joey hosted the ceremony and entertained guests throughout the evening.
Durham won five prestigious Gold awards for Bed & Breakfast of the Year, Holiday Park/Holiday Village of the Year, Small Visitor Attraction of the Year, Business Tourism Award and Visitor Information Provider of the Year; with three Silver awards, one Bronze award and two Highly Commended awards.
Gold award winners from Durham were as follows:
• Bed and Breakfast of the Year – Brunswick House
• Holiday Park/Holiday Village of the Year – Doe Park Caravan Site
• Small Visitor Attraction of the Year – The Auckland Project – Mining Art Gallery
• Business Tourism Award – Event Durham, Durham University
• Visitor Information Provider of the Year – Durham Pointers
The awards play a key role in celebrating and showcasing the range of quality tourism businesses that visitors to the North East encounter. The tourism sector continues to be the fourth largest in the region, highlighting the importance of the businesses working in the sector to the wider economy.
Sarah Stewart, chief executive at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “Congratulations to all of tonight’s winners and those who contribute to the success of the North East tourism sector. This year we received a record number of applications and all the categories were tightly contested.
Newcastle College and Bidfood continued their support for the awards as event sponsors for 2018. Visit County Durham sponsored the Taste of England Award.
Michelle Gorman, managing director of Visit County Durham, said: “We are thrilled to see so many Durham businesses awarded for their hard work and dedication to the tourism industry. It is once again testament to the quality and diversity of our tourism offer that we have so many worthy winners.”
In 2019 the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence will celebrate 30 years of the awards and success in English tourism and winners from the North East England Tourism Awards will be highlighted as part of the celebrations.
The North East England Tourism Awards are organised and delivered by NewcastleGateshead Initiative in partnership with the North East Tourism Alliance.
The North East Tourism Alliance is a collaboration of the region’s tourism bodies who work together on projects that will benefit the tourism industry across the region. The founding members of the alliance are Visit County Durham , NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Northumberland Tourism, and The North East Hotels Association. The North East England Tourism Awards are also supported by South Tyneside Council and North Tyneside Council.