The Tamiya Hall, in the heart of The Tank Museum at Bovington, provided the dramatic backdrop for the inaugural Dorset Tourism awards as an audience of 160 guests sat down to dinner surrounded by an impressive array of tanks.
There were 39 awards presented to winners from across the county, with several multiple winners including the Eastbury Hotel in Sherborne, National Trust Brownsea Island, The Inn at Cranborne and BridgeHouse Hotel in Beaminster. West Dorset Leisure Holidays also shone as Gold winner in two categories, with its Managing Director, Martin Cox, receiving a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. Sherborne’s Eastbury Hotel took the Winner of Winners awards for its consistency of excellence and its ambassadorial role for Dorset, while Geoff Curtis, a volunteer on Brownsea Island, took the Gold for Outstanding Customer Service.
The Awards were launched in June this year, following extensive liaison between their founder, Robin Barker, and local tourism leaders.
“Dorset offers something special, yet for various reasons has not always punched its weight as a top destination,” says Robin, who was delighted at the positive and enthusiastic response to the awards.
“The quality of our tourism businesses is testament to the excellence of which we should be proud. This is reflected in the submissions for the Dorset Tourism Awards and all entrants should be praised for what they contribute to what Dorset has to offer.”
Successful businesses in the Dorset Awards will now be fast tracked into the South West Tourism Excellence Awards in January 2014, with the possibility of entering the National Visit England Awards. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners.
For more details visit dorsettourismawards.org.uk
