Businesses from across the region are being encouraged to apply to this year’s Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards. Applications for this year’s awards are now open and winners being celebrated at a glamorous event, which will be held on Thursday 21st May at St George’s Hall Liverpool.
This high-profile event recognises outstanding contributions to the City Region’s tourism sector including Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley, Halton and St. Helens. The sector supports 48,000 jobs and is worth £3.6bn to the Liverpool economy. Liverpool is currently the 5th most popular destination for international visitors in the UK.
A panel of leading industry experts will assess the applications, they include Tim Banfield, commercial director at the award-winning Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) Liverpool, Andrew Parkinson, director of operations at Liverpool Football Club, and Peter Avis, manager of Richard Branson’s Babylon restaurant at Kensington Roof Gardens. The awards will showcase the numerous diverse elements of Liverpool’s tourism sectors, featuring 17 different categories including accommodation, events, restaurants and customer service. There are several new categories this year with awards for Performance Venue of the Year, Young Person of the Year, Independent Tourism Business of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
The event will be attended by key stakeholders from across the public and private sector as well as over 500 tourism professionals. The awards are held every year on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). They are designed to create an environment where competition is encouraged in order to continually deliver the very best visitor experience possible.
Sara Wilde McKeown, Chair of Liverpool City Region’s Visitor Economy Board said:
“2014 was a bumper year for Liverpool’s visitor economy with a number of diverse and unique events including the Giant Spectacular, the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, the International Festival for Business and Liverpool International Music Festival. We are fortunate to have a visitor economy that is one of the most vibrant in the UK and therefore it is important that we recognize and reward those who have played an important role in our success. We are appealing to all businesses, organisations and individuals who want to raise the bar and help ensure that the City Region’s offering continues to grow both in quality and diversity.
“This is a great opportunity for businesses in the sector to increase their profiles, communicate their success and differentiate themselves from their competitors and we are looking forward to seeing the best the city has to offer at the awards in May.”
There are a wide range of awards which companies, individuals and organisations can enter.
Corporate awards include:
• Hotel of the Year
• Guest Accommodation of the Year
• Serviced Apartment of the Year
• Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
• Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
• Taste Liverpool
• Tourism Event of the Year
• Tourism Experience of the Year
• Bar of the Year
• Tourism Marketing Campaign of the Year
• Excellence in Business Tourism
• Independent Tourism Business of the Year
• Performance Venue of the Year
• Newcomer of the Year
• People’s Choice Award – Business
Individual awards include:
• Outstanding Customer Service
• Young Person of the Year
Last year’s corporate winners included Port Sunlight Museum, Mere Brook House, Tate Liverpool and Delifonseca. Previous individual awards include Lillian Moore (Liverpool Empire Theatre) and Gemma McGowan (The Isla Gladstone).
Submitting your entry for the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards couldn’t be easier; simply download the entry form for the category or categories you wish to enter at visitliverpool.biz. Alternatively, you can call us on 0844 809 4399, or send an email request to tourismawards@eventfulonline.com to request an entry form to be posted to you. The deadline for entries is Friday 13th February. The shortlist for the awards will be announced in early March.
For more information on the awards or to enter, please visit www.visitliverpool.biz
To discuss becoming an event sponsor or to purchase tickets for the event, please call Cathryn O’Grady at Eventful on 0844 809 4399 or email tourismawards@eventfulonline.com