Awards honour top .. of the tourism trade

Jun 13 2008 by Barry Ellams, Chester Chronicle

Honours were bestowed upon the best of the county’s tourism industry at the 2008 Visit Chester & Cheshire Annual Awards.

The evening, in the new Pavilion in Chester Racecourse, was hosted by Wish You Were Here? presenter Mark Durden-Smith and attended by more than 420 guests.

Mark explained: “The winners have all demonstrated that quality, commitment and attention to detail is behind their success. Cheshire is renowned for making all of its visitors feel welcome – this year’s very worthy winners can only enhance that reputation.”

In their fourth year, the awards were organised by Visit Chester & Cheshire in association with The Chronicle and supported by NWDA.

Visit Chester & Cheshire Chairman Mike Cooksley commended the winners, describing their commitment as “outstanding.”

He said: “As always, standards continue to rise again and once again the judges had their work cut out!

“Quality is yet again a key factor in the winners’ successes and I’m delighted to congratulate each and everyone of them on their well-deserved victories.”

The presentations followed an assessment by a panel of experts, including entrepreneur and star of TV show Secret Millionaire Mo Chaudry, UKTV Food’s Roopa Gulati, and Helen Hokin, editor of Food and Travel Magazine.

Winners included Ness Gardens who were crowned Large Attraction of the Year. Judges said the attraction boasted some of the most “beautiful gardens you will see anywhere.”

The Hollies Farm Shop, Little Budworth, celebrated a hat-trick of successes after winning the Taste of Cheshire 2008 Award for the third year running. The business won Best Supporter of Regional Food and Drink in 2007 and 2006.

Director Phil Cowap explained: “Achieving the hat-trick is so amazing, we are so proud and can only thank our fantastic team, customers, suppliers and supporters.”

Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre, Tarporley, was named Small Visitor Attraction of the Year for the second year running. Judges commented that the attraction offered the “complete package for a day visit.”

Carden Park Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa received the Sustainable Tourism Award, while language school, English in Chester, picked up the plaudit for Best Tourism Website.

Chester’s Trafford Hall was highly commended in the Sustainable Award category, as was Cheshire County Council for its Discover Cheshire website and city-based Macdonald New Blossoms Hotel came highly commended in the Large Hotel section.

Cholmondeley Estate was handed The Event of The Year Award which was judged by staff from Trinity Mirror Cheshire.

James Hall, Cholmondeley Estate Manager and event organiser said: “It is a privilege to work with such a highly efficient and hard-working team on the Estate who are committed to making the event so enjoyable for concert-goers.”

Manor Wood Country Caravan Park, Coddington, celebrated being named Holiday Park of the Year and Sandhollow Farm Bed & Breakfast, Burwardsley, scooped the title of best bed and breakfast.

Many of the winners will automatically qualify for the England’s Northwest Tourism Awards, organised by the NWDA later this year.

2008 sponsors included Mercedes-Benz of Chester, M&S Money, (in association with its Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace charity), structural, system and space designer Broome Jenkins, website developer New Mind, the Restaurant Association of Chester & Cheshire, Trinity Mirror, Cheshire County Council and Chester City Council, the Environment Agency, River Media and consultants Bizvision.