Celebrating our great tourism businesses at awards event
A total of 27 tourism businesses from across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire have been crowned as the best in the area at the 2017 Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism Awards.
Awards in 16 categories, including Large Visitor Attraction of the Year, Hotel of the Year and Best Tourism Experience of the Year, were handed out at the event, at the 1907 Restaurant at Uttoxeter Racecourse.
The Large Visitor Attraction of the Year award, sponsored by Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, went to the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas. NMA volunteer Denis Cook, left, and staff member Lianne Joynson, right, are pictured receiving the award from LEP communications manager Alison Thomas.
The Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent and Colton House near Rugeley both won two golds, making them the biggest winners of the day.
Gladstone won the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year and the Inclusive Tourism Award, while Colton House picked up the Sustainable Tourism Award and Boutique Guest Accommodation of the Year.
The new CBeebies Land Hotel at Alton Towers Resort was named Hotel of the Year.
Drayton Manor Park won gold for the second year in a row for Best Tourism Experience of the Year, for Drayton’s Magical Christmas, with titles also going to World of Wedgwood (Guided Tour of the Year) and Uttoxeter Racecourse (Business Tourism).
Alrewas’ Amber House went home with the Bed & Breakfast of the Year award, Cannock’s Dalraddy Cottage was Self-Catering Property of the Year, and Heywood Hall, Denstone won Self-Catering Holiday Provider of the Year.
Oakland Holiday Park in Brewood won Holiday Park/Glamping Village of the Year, and The Borehole pub in Stone retained the Dog-Friendly Business of the Year title.
Sarah Montgomery, chair of Enjoy Staffordshire and Managing Director at the National Memorial Arboretum, said: “We should all be proud of the work we do to promote tourism in Staffordshire.
“The sector continues to be a major part of the county’s economic landscape. Overall annual direct spend by visitors now stands at £1.3bn, and the total impact of the sector, including indirect spent, amounts to £1.8bn.
“In all, 39,000 people are employed by the sector, both directly and indirectly, so we must not underestimate how important tourism is to the overall Staffordshire economy.
“Well done to all our winners, and good luck to those going forward to represent Staffordshire at the VisitEngland Awards.”
The awards were independently judged and verified by Service Science. Fourteen of the gold-winning businesses will now go forward to the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, to be held in Spring 2018.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS – 2017 NFU MUTUAL ENJOY STAFFORDSHIRE TOURISM AWARDS
Inclusive Tourism Award, sponsored by Staffordshire Environmental Quality Mark
Gladstone Pottery Museum – GOLD
Drayton Manor Park – SILVER
Beechenhill Farm, Ilam – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Sustainable Tourism Award, sponsored by Staffordshire Business Environment Network
Colton House, near Rugeley – GOLD
Beechenhill Farm, Ilam – SILVER
Dalraddy Cottage, Cannock – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Business Tourism Award, sponsored by Stoke & Staffordshire LEP Growth Hub
Uttoxeter Racecourse – GOLD
The Moat House Acton Trussell – SILVER
Drayton Manor Park – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Guided Tour of the Year
World of Wedgwood – GOLD
Gladstone Pottery Museum – SILVER
Lymestone Brewery, Stone – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Dog-Friendly Business of the Year
The Borehole, Stone – GOLD
Best Tourism Experience of the Year, sponsored by Pear Communications
Drayton’s Magical Christmas at Drayton Manor Park – GOLD
Victorian Santa Trail at Tamworth Castle – SILVER
Lichfield Cathedral – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Tourism Pub of the Year
The Sun Inn, Stafford
Taste of Staffordshire Tourism Award
The Three Horseshoes Country Inn, Leek
Holiday Park/Glamping Village of the Year
Oakland Holiday Park, Brewood – GOLD
Lower Micklin Touring Park, Alton – SILVER
Self-Catering Holiday Property of the Year
Dalraddy Cottage, Cannock – GOLD
Greenacres Barn, Denstone – SILVER
The Orgreave Lodge, Alrewas – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Self-Catering Holiday Provider of the Year
Heywood Hall, Denstone – GOLD
Ingestre Lodges, Stafford – SILVER
Beechenhill Farm, Ilam – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Bed & Breakfast of the Year
Amber House, Alrewas – GOLD
The Warren B&B, Alton – SILVER
Boutique Guest Accommodation of the Year
Colton House – GOLD
The Laurels B&B, Oakamoor – SILVER
The Chase Hotel at Chase Golf Club – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Hotel of the Year
CBeebies Land Hotel at Alton Towers Resort – GOLD
Drayton Manor Hotel – SILVER
Swinfen Hall Hotel, Lichfield – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Small Visitor Attraction of the Year, sponsored by RH Partners
Gladstone Pottery Museum – GOLD
Tamworth Castle – SILVER
The Dorothy Clive Garden, Newcastle-under-Lyme – HIGHLY COMMENDED
Large Visitor Attraction of the Year, sponsored by Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire LEP
National Memorial Arboretum – GOLD
Alton Towers Resort – SILVER
World of Wedgwood – HIGHLY COMMENDED
