Quality, excellence and diversity across Liverpool City Region’s thriving Visitor Economy have been rewarded at The Mersey Partnership Annual Tourism Awards 2011 – with 11 of the winners going on to represent the destination at national level.
A total of 15 Awards was presented at the event which was organised by TMP – Official Tourist Board for Liverpool City Region – and hosted by BBC North West Tonight presenter Ranvir Singh.
Liverpool City Region’s Visitor Economy currently generates visitor spend of £2.8billion and is estimated to support approximately 41,000 jobs a year.
A total of 77 shortlisted finalists from across Liverpool City Region went head-to-head across 15 categories covering attractions, accommodation, bars, restaurants and business tourism, and for the first time included the Culture and Heritage Experience of the Year category.
The winners of 11 categories are now eligible to represent Liverpool City Region at the national Enjoy England Awards for Excellence next year (indicated next to winner details).
A pool of 27 independent judges was involved in the process to select the winners. The panel was drawn from experts in the Visitor Economy sector and judges with any connection to shortlisted entrants did not participate in judging that category.
This year, four winners successfully defended their 2010 titles – they were The Wro in Wirral for Bar of the Year, Herons Well Holiday Cottage in Wirral for Self Catering Accommodation of the Year, Knowsley Hall for Guest Accommodation of the Year, and Liverpool’s Hope Street Hotel for Hotel of the Year.
And the Liverpool City Region districts of Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, St.Helens and Halton were well represented by scooping a third of the titles – demonstrating how the Visitor Economy continues to grow in choice, quality and excellence right across the destination.
The record-breaking John Smith’s Grand National 2011 romped home with the title of Tourism Event of the Year. This year, the race meeting attracted more than 153,000 visitors over three days, broadcasting the Grand National to a TV audience of over 600 million worldwide.
It was double honours for Picasso: Peace + Freedom at Tate Liverpool for Tourism Marketing Initiative of the Year and also Culture and Heritage Experience of the Year. This was Tate Liverpool’s second largest exhibition in its 23-year history, attracting 95,500 visitors.
Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool also won two Awards – Excellence in Sustainable Tourism, and the BT Convention Centre was honoured for Excellence in Business Tourism. Since its launch in 2008, the Waterfront venue has contributed up to £400million to the local economy.
Merseytravel’s U-boat Story was named as Small Visitor Attraction of the Year, with Liverpool Football Club taking the title of Large Visitor Attraction of the Year for Stadium Tour and Museum at Anfield Stadium, attracting 156,600 visitors in 2010.
The Taste Award was won by The London Carriage Works, Utility was named Retailer of the Year, and The John Moores Painting Prize at Walker Art Gallery scooped the Tourism Experience of the Year title.
Kevin Roberts from Liverpool ONE beat off stiff opposition from across the City Region to win the Excellence in Customer Service Award.
The following winners are eligible to go on to the next year’s national Enjoy England Awards: Kevin Roberts, Herons Well Holiday Cottage, The London Carriage Works, U-boat Story, Liverpool Football Club, BT Convention Centre, Knowsley Hall, ACC Liverpool, The John Moores Painting Prize at Walker Art Gallery, Hope Street Hotel and The John Smith’s Grand National
TMP Chief Executive Lorraine Rogers commented:
“The Annual Tourism Awards event is an opportunity for all of the key organisations in the Visitor Economy to get together and celebrate the very significant collective progress and success that has been achieved.
“The quality and diversity of this year’s finalists was very high – each of them has demonstrated a commitment to attracting more visitors to the Liverpool City Region and offering them an exceptional experience. Many local businesses are in fierce competition for the Awards but when we, the Tourist Board, work with them, we’re all on the same side – collaborating to promote Liverpool City Region. The winners of the Awards go on to represent the City Region at a national level and can help attract greater profile for the whole destination by being the best in their category.”
Dave Brewitt, Chief Executive of Hope Street Hotel (Winner: Hotel of the Year) and The London Carriage Works (Winner: Taste) said:
“We are, of course, delighted with this double win. As an independent company within a very competitive market full of quality hotels and restaurants, we work hard for our day-to-day success. We are very proud of our product and very proud of our teams and their loyal spirit and wit – all qualities we hope shine through the business.”
Emma Owen, Marketing and PR Manager for Aintree Racecourse (Winner: Tourism Event of the Year) commented:
“We are absolutely thrilled that the showcase event of Aintree’s racing calendar, the John Smith’s Grand National, has been named Tourism Event of the Year – in the same year it broke all previous records. This is testament to the quality of three-day race festival and the overall visitor experience, and is recognition of hard work of the entire team involved.”
Tom Cassidy, Commercial Tourism Manager at Liverpool Football Club (Winner: Large Visitor Attraction of the Year) said:
“We’ve taken a very different approach to the football club as a visitor attraction. We’ve done a lot of hard work and this is only the start. There’s a lot more we can do and you can never take things for granted as there are a lot of very good attractions in the region.”
Dick Mawdsley, Director at Utlity (Winner: Retailer of the Year) added:
“We’re lucky because Liverpool is blessed with lots of great buildings and heritage. We’ve managed to capitalise on that and play to our audience with fantastic Liverpool-orientated product ranges which are popular with all visitors – local, regional, national and international. Our staff are absolutely amazing and are really good ambassadors for the city.”
The awards are supported by Merseytravel, Liverpool ONE, ACC Liverpool and BBC Radio Merseyside.
The Mersey Partnership
Annual Tourism Awards 2011 – Winners
* Indicates this category is eligible to represent Liverpool City Region at the national Enjoy England Awards for Excellence
-Excellence in Customer Service *
Sponsored by Hotel Indigo Liverpool
Kevin Roberts, Liverpool ONE (Liverpool) www.Liverpool-one.com
-Tourism Marketing Initiative of the Year
Sponsored by Liverpool Football Club
Tate Liverpool for Picasso: Peace + Freedom www.Tate.org.uk/liverpool
–Self Catering Accommodation of the Year *
Sponsored by Merseytravel
Herons Well Holiday Cottage www.heronswell.co.uk
-Culture and Heritage Experience of the Year
Supported by BBC Radio Merseyside
Tate Liverpool for Picasso: Peace + Freedom www.Tate.org.uk/liverpool
-Bar of the Year
The Wro www.thewro-lounge.co.uk
-Taste *
Sponsored by Merseytravel
The London Carriage Works www.thelondoncarriageworks.co.uk
-Small Visitor Attraction of the Year *
U-boat Story www.u-boatstory.co.uk
-Large Visitor Attraction of the Year *
Liverpool Football Club www.liverpoolfc.tv
-Excellence in Business Tourism *
BT Convention Centre www.btconventioncentre.com
-Guest Accommodation of the Year *
Sponsored by Liverpool ONE
Knowsley Hall www.knowsley.com
-Excellence in Sustainable Tourism *
Sponsored by Scottish Power
ACC Liverpool www.accliverpool.com
-Retailer of the Year
Sponsored by Liverpool City Central Business Improvement District
Utility www.utilitydesign.co.uk
-Tourism Experience of the Year *
Sponsored by ACC Liverpool
The John Moores Painting Prize at Walker Art Gallery
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores/
-Hotel of the Year *
Sponsored by Liverpool Vision
Hope Street Hotel www.hopestreethotel.co.uk/
-Tourism Event of the Year *
Sponsored by Stena Line Irish Sea Ferries
The John Smith’s Grand National www.aintree.co.uk
