VisitEngland has today announced that this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence will be held at the Library of Birmingham on 8 June.

Finalists will be invited to the nationally recognised awards where Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be announced across 15 core categories from the ‘Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award’ to the ‘Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year’ and from the ‘Pub of the Year’ to the ‘Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award’.

VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:

“We are delighted to be bringing VisitEngland’s Awards for Excellence to the Library of Birmingham this year and to be meeting in person again as our sector comes together to celebrate the finest in English tourism. 

“The awards present a timely opportunity to raise the profile of England’s outstanding tourism products, showcase the industry’s innovation as well as acknowledge the people and businesses that work so hard to deliver world-class tourism experiences.

“Millions of jobs and local economies depend on tourism and the awards also recognise the determination and dedication of businesses and destinations across England’s tourism industry as they rebuild and continue to champion best practice and customer service excellence.”

Neil Rami, Chief Executive of West Midlands Growth Company, said:

“We’re delighted the West Midlands will host the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. With the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games representing the jewel in the crown of a sensational year of arts, culture and sport in the West Midlands, there isn’t a better suited location to celebrate the positive impact of tourism on the economy and within local communities. The awards are a timely recognition of the diligence and resilience of the sector across England following an extremely difficult period and we look forward to welcoming all the finalists to the Library of Birmingham in June.”

There were more than 300 entries to the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2022 comprising of local winners from the 14 aligned competitions which have been running across England, who are then automatically entered into the national awards.

In addition to the 15 core categories, which include two new awards this year - the ‘Unsung Hero Award’ and the ‘Resilience and Innovation Award,’ special awards are also being presented including an ‘Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award’, a ‘Travel Content Award’ and a ‘Tourism Superstar’ award.

The three national finalists for each category will be announced following a rigorous judging process by hand-picked tourism industry experts.

In recognition of running a high quality, fair and transparent awards programme, VisitEngland is also delighted to announce that the Awards for Excellence have been accredited with the Awards Trust Mark for the first time. The Awards Trust Mark scheme, run by The Independent Awards Standards Council, enhances trust between those entering awards schemes, and the organisations running them.

The Independent Awards Standards Council Co-Founder and Chair Chris Robinson said:

“The tourism industry has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. It is therefore all the more important that excellence and best practice in the face of these challenges gets the recognition it deserves. We are very pleased to announce that the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence have achieved Trust Mark accreditation in recognition of the high standards of ethics and transparency that they adhere to with this excellent awards scheme - congratulations!” 

The Self Catering Accommodation of the Year category, in 2022 will be sponsored by Sykes Holiday Cottages.

Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, supporting hundreds of thousands of businesses, employing about 2.6 million people and, in 2019, generating £76 billion in domestic visitor spending.

Notes to Editors:

A full list of core categories for 2021-22 is below:

1. Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award
2. B&B and Guest House of the Year
3. Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year
4. Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award
5. Experience of the Year
6. Large Hotel of the Year
7. Small Hotel of the Year
8. New Tourism Business Award
9. Pub of the Year
10. Resilience & Innovation Award
11. Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year
12. Taste of England Award
13. Unsung Hero Award
14. Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
15. Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

• VisitEngland appoints industry experts to determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze national winners for each category. These include Simon Calder, the Independent’s Travel Correspondent and food critic William Sitwell as well as editors from The Sun and The Guardian newspapers.  Other judges are made up of leading industry figures including the Chief Executives of the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP), the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA), Stay in a Pub, Green Tourism and The Beer & Pub Association. As well as the Chairman of the B&B Association, the Director General of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) and the Executive Director of Cask Marque. Go to https://www.visitbritain.org/business-advice/awards/visitengland-awards-excellence-judging for more information.
• For more information on the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, go to www.visitenglandawards.org
• For more information on the Awards Mark Trust go to https://awardstrustmark.org/awards-trust-mark/

For more information on Sykes Holiday Cottages go to https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/