Congratulations to all the worthy winners
The Beautiful South Tourism Awards ceremony, at the Grand Hotel Brighton on 13th December was simply a spectacular sparkling affair. Nearly 300 guests enjoyed a spectacular dinner, sparkling wine from Stopham Vineyard followed by the awards ceremony and a fantastic DJ set from Unity Artists.
The best businesses from across South East England gathered to hail the achievements of 64 tourism businesses of which 25 received a Gold Award, 22 a Silver Award and 17 a Bronze Award. In addition, seven businesses were awarded “Commended” in recognition of their excellence.
The Gallivant at Camber Sands, East Sussex scooped four awards in total; a gold Award for Business Events Venue of the Year plus three silver Awards for Hotel of the Year, Restaurant of the Year and Wedding Venue of the year. Oakley Hall Hotel, Basingstoke, won three golds for Hotel, Wedding Venue and Restaurant of Year, the latter a joint award with The Vineyard, Newbury.
Other businesses celebrating multiple wins included Stubcroft Farm Campsite, Chichester who took home a double gold for the Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award and the Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award plus a bronze in the Camping and Caravan Park of the Year category. Shorefield Holidays celebrated two golds - Future of Hospitality Award and Resilience & Innovation Award - and a bronze in the Holiday Park of the Year category.
Whitchurch Silk Mill in Hampshire, Drusillas Park near Eastbourne and Kits Coty Glamping in Kent also celebrated a triple victory with each of the businesses seeing individual recognition for members of their teams in the Unsung Hero Award Category (gold/gilver/bronze Awards respectively). Oxfordshire attractions were lauded with Blenheim Palace winning gold in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year Award and Oxford Castle & Prison taking gold in the Small Visitor Attraction category.
Fran Downton, Chief Executive of Tourism South East, said, “Congratulations to all our winners. It was a real honour to play host to such truly exceptional businesses. The strength of our winners is a testament to the incredible standards and unwavering quality of the South’s tourism and hospitality products. I am extremely grateful to the sponsors and the partnership with The Grand in Brighton that make this event extra special. Tourism South East look forward to celebrating with our winners and working alongside them as they lead the way throughout this coming year.”
Andrew Mosley, Managing Director, event partner The Grand Brighton commented “Once again we are proud to have partnered with Tourism South East to host the Beautiful South Awards. This is unquestionably one of the ‘go-to’ events for hospitality and tourism across the south and it was lovely to see so many industry colleagues at The Grand on the night. Congratulations to all the winners!”
Deborah Heather​, Chief Executive Officer, headline sponsor Quality in Tourism said "It was incredibly inspiring to be part of the Beautiful South Tourism Awards once again. The finalists were innovative and resilient a real motivating force for other operations, without exception, an amazing group of businesses, people and places."
Photographs from the award ceremony are available for free download here please credit Nick Williams photography.
For a complete list of all the winners click here
