Following a flurry of entries from across Cumbria, the finalists for the Cumbria Tourism Awards 2018 can now be revealed.

With a total of 18 awards on offer, brand new categories for 2018 include Culture & Heritage Experience of the Year and Adventure Experience of the Year. The finalists have all been chosen by an independent panel of tourism experts.

Tickets for this year’s awards ceremony at Cartmel Racecourse, on Wednesday 20 June, will go on sale shortly. The event will be hosted by Alan ‘Deadly’ Dedicoat – best-known as the National Lottery’s infamous ‘Voice of the Balls’ – with catering on the night provided by The Ilex at Holker.

Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism, Gill Haigh, says, “The award categories celebrate the huge range and diversity of Cumbria’s tourism industry. The awards are now in their 16^th year and following Cumbria’s second World Heritage designation for the Lake District, it’s another great way to mark our Year of Celebration. We’ve seen an exceptional number of entries and I know the judges have once again been bowled over by the fantastic quality shown right across the county.”

 

 

The Cumbria Tourism Awards 2018 finalists are:

 

Large Hotel of the Year (35+ rooms) – Sponsored by Armstrong Watson

• Armathwaite Hall, Bassenthwaite
• North Lakes Hotel & Spa, Penrith
• The Trout Hotel, Cockermouth

 

Small Hotel of the Year – Sponsored by Colliers International

• Cedar Manor Hotel & Restaurant, Windermere
• Rothay Garden Hotel, Grasmere
• Briery Wood Country House Hotel, Windermere
• Lindeth Howe, Bowness-on-Windermere

 

Boutique Guest Accommodation of the Year – Sponsored by Lamont Pridmore

• 1863 Bar Bistro Rooms, Pooley Bridge
• Askham Hall
• Lindeth Fell Country House, Windermere

 

Bed and Breakfast of the Year – Sponsored by Cumberland Business

• Westwood, Cockermouth
• Raise View, Grasmere

 

Self-Catering Holiday Provider of the Year – Sponsored by Out of Eden

• Tottergill Farm Cottages, near Brampton
• Bridge End Farm Cottages, Eskdale Valley
• Iconic collection Whitbarrow Village, near Penrith

 

Self-Catering Holiday Property of the Year – Sponsorship opportunity available

• Heart of the Lakes – Bristowe Hill, Keswick
• Heart of the Lakes – High Cunsey, Far Sawrey
• Glen Bank, Brampton, near Appleby

 

Holiday Park of the Year – Sponsored by NatWest Commercial Banking

• Black Beck Holiday Park, Bouth
• The Quiet Site, Ullswater
• Park Cliffe Camping & Caravan Estate, Windermere

 

Visitor Attraction of the Year – Sponsored by H&H Reeds Printers

• Old Hall Farm, Bouth
• Cocoa Bean, Hawkshead
• Derwent Pencil Museum, Keswick
• Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport

 

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year – Sponsored by Burnetts

• Lakes Distillery, Bassenthwaite
• Lowther Castle & Gardens
• Honister Slate Mine

 

Tourism Pub of the Year – Sponsored by Christie & Co

• The Wheatsheaf @ Brigsteer
• Queens Head, Troutbeck
• Dockray Hall, Penrith

 

Taste Cumbria – Sponsored by Enterprise Answers

• The Plough at Lupton
• The Castle Dairy, Kendal
• 1863 Bar Bistro Rooms, Pooley Bridge
• The Moon Highgate, Kendal
• The Cottage in the Wood, Whinlatter Forest
• Merewood Country House Hotel, Windermere
• George & Dragon, Clifton
• The Three Hares, Sedbergh

 

Sustainable Tourism Award – Sponsored by Lake District National Park

• Cedar Manor Hotel & Restaurant, Windermere
• Newlands Adventure Centre
• Upfront Arts Venue, near Penrith

 

Culture & Heritage Experience of the Year – Sponsored by Carlisle Lake District Airport

• Line of Beauty – Percy Kelly Exhibition, Tullie House, Carlisle
• Ravenglass Railway Museum
• Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House, Bowness-on-Windermere

 

Adventure Experience of the Year – Sponsorship opportunity available

• Newlands Adventure Centre & Keswick Climbing Wall
• Go Ape Whinlatter
• Cyclewise Whinlatter

 

Tourism Event of the Year – Sponsorship opportunity available

• Eden Arts – Winter Droving, Penrith
• Eden Arts – C-Art
• Printfest, Ulverston
• Westmorland County Show, Crooklands

 

Wedding Venue of the Year – Sponsored by Napthens Solicitors

• Broadoaks Country House, Windermere
• Castle Green Hotel, Kendal
• Heather Glen, Ainstable Village, near Carlisle

 

New Tourism Business Award – Sponsored by Thomson Hayton Winkley

• Another Place, The Lake, Ullswater
• Wheatsheaf at Beetham
• Snooty Fox, Kirkby Lonsdale

 

The Sheila Hensman Award for Outstanding Contribution to Excellence

• Rachel Dunckley (Hazelbank Country House Hotel, Borrowdale Valley)
• Victoria Blanco (Tree Top Trek, Windermere)
• Christine Brown (Castle Green Hotel, Kendal)

 

Cumbria Tourism would like to thank all its generous sponsors for making the event possible.

 

To find out more about the Cumbria Tourism Awards, visit: www.cumbriatourism.org/awards

We are urging businesses to take part in a county-wide survey, to help it ‘health check’ how our county’s £2.72 billion tourism industry is performing.

The latest Business Performance Survey available on www.cumbriatourism.org can be completed by any tourism business. It will enable them to benchmark their performance over the past 6 months (October 2017 to March 2018) and comment on the issues affecting trade.

The anonymous survey co-ordinated by our research team aims to understand the successes and challenges being faced by operators, and is part of our role as the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) to monitor and evaluate tourism trends. More than 100 businesses have already completed the Business Performance Survey, but more are needed by the deadline of this Friday 20 April.

We will be using this research to help make the county’s case for future investment, strategy and business support, as well as informing key partners such as local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Lake District National Park in their work on behalf of the sector.

CT Research Manager, Helen Tate, says, “This survey is quick and easy to complete and is really important for helping us to understand the factors affecting trade. We have been carrying out the six monthly business survey for many years now and it has helped us to build up a long-term picture of current and emerging issues, so we can keep supporting the industry and continuously improving the county as a tourism destination.”

Our six-monthly Business Performance Survey is just one area of regular research undertaken by the organisation. Work will also be getting underway on the Cumbria Visitor Survey in the coming weeks; held every three years, this vital research is the only available source of Cumbria-wide information on the county’s visitors, telling us where they come from, who they are with, why they come and what they do when they are here.

The organisation also undertakes monthly occupancy surveys, regular analysis of accommodation stock composition, and an annual tourism economic impact assessment.

For more information about the Business Performance Survey, contact our Research Manager Helen Tate: htate@cumbriatourism.org

 

Tourism businesses have more chances than ever to show off their glorious gardens at this year’s Cumbria in Bloom Awards, with a record six tourism-related honours up for grabs.

Cumbria in Bloom has been supporting and encouraging businesses, communities and individuals to improve their surroundings for the benefit of both locals and visitors for more than 30 years. Entries have now opened for the 2018 awards, with a closing date of Monday 30 April.

As the county’s official Destination Management Organisation, we are supporting six special categories for the county’s tourism businesses to enter:

• Public Houses
• Bed & Breakfasts /Guest Accommodation
• Small Hotels (up to 10 bedrooms)
• Large Hotels (more than 10 bedrooms)
• Visitor attractions, including golf courses
• Self-Catering establishments, including Holiday Parks.

2017’s tourism-related winners included Windermere’s Cedar Manor Hotel, Holgates Caravan Park in Silverdale and Ann Tyson’s House in Hawkshead.

This year’s Cumbria in Bloom judging will take place during the first two weeks of July, and the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 20 September 2018 in Ulverston.

Cumbria Tourism Executive Board Member, Haydn Spedding says, “As well as being a great asset for local residents, Cumbria’s horticultural offerings are a fantastic draw for visitors and really complement the natural beauty of the county’s coast, lakes and mountains.

“Following the Lake District’s new UNESCO World Heritage status as a cultural landscape this is a fantastic time to showcase the entire county, and Cumbria Tourism is proud to support Cumbria in Bloom in highlighting the very best of our beautiful and inspirational gardens.”

To enter, contact Elizabeth Auld on lizhauld@gmail.com / 01228 710128 before the closing date of 30 April 2018.

Following this week’s visit by HRH Prince of Wales to officially mark the National Park’s World Heritage inscription, and on the cusp of the busy Easter season, we have just released visitor figures that give even more reason for celebration.

Each year as the county’s official Destination Management Organisation, we run a visitor volume survey amongst visitor attractions across the county. The data collected is vital to give the county an indication of how businesses are performing across the region. Information was received from over 70 visitor attractions, telling us about their 6m+ visitors.

Figures just in from the annual visitor attraction survey report a 3.4% increase to Cumbrian attractions during 2017. These figures build on a 7.2% increase in 2015-2016, and 3.3% between 2014-2015.

Gill Haigh, our MD, says;

“This week’s visit by HRH Prince of Wales not only officially marked our World Heritage inscription but has also given us a fantastic advert for Cumbria at the start of the season ahead.  With figures just in from our most recent visitor attraction survey reporting a 3.4% increase to Cumbrian attractions in 2017, it makes us extremely optimistic for the year ahead.  We look forward to the Easter holidays and welcoming thousands of visitors to explore our world class county. We are particularly delighted that the survey findings demonstrate just how much visitors are enjoying attractions throughout the county – from Carlisle to Kirkby Stephen, Maryport to Flookborough, as well as the central Lake District.”

Last weekend we and our partners hosted a visit to the county by the new Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Michael Ellis MP, which coincided with his announcement of £3.3m from the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund to enhance visitor experience at cultural attractions across the UK’s newest World Heritage Site. The multi-venue arts investment will help further cement the county’s international and national reputation for high quality attractions, offering visitors even more compelling ways to explore and experience with our world class landscape.

As part of English Tourism Week, we have unveiled exciting new plans to team up with VisitEngland – alongside local partners and other English regions – on four key projects to target international visitors.

As part of its role as the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for the county, we revealed details of the ‘Discover England’ projects during a special tourism summit of member businesses at the Low Wood Bay hotel and resort.

The event yesterday ran under the theme of ‘Creating a World-Class Visitor Experience’ and appropriately, all four large-scale collaborative projects focus on enhancing a world-class experience for targeted international markets.

Our involvement will mean the county features strongly within each of the initiatives, which are all being supported through VisitEngland’s national ‘Discover England’ Fund. They include:

• Discover England’s Great Walking Trails is all about promoting the great walking trails of England to visitors from Germany, the Netherlands, France and the USA. Itineraries will be designed to promote walking holidays offered by seven of England’s National Trails, including Hadrian’s Wall and the northern part of the Pennine Way. We are working with Marketing Peak District and Derbyshire, in conjunction with Carlisle City Council, to ensure Cumbria receives maximum exposure.
• Growing Manchester as an International Gateway to the North: Working alongside Marketing Manchester, this project aims to increase the volume of visitors coming through Manchester Airport by creating itineraries that open up the North of England to the US market. Cumbria Tourism is developing one and two-day excursions to spearhead Cumbria as an unmissable rural destination.
• The English National Park Experience Collection is a collaboration of the National Parks in England and will create a joined-up, internationally branded collection of experiences. We will be working closely with the Lake District National Park to provide business support, workshops and a trade marketing strategy which can be used by Cumbrian businesses targeting the Australian and German markets.
• The World Heritage Sites Study is a research project being led by Cumbria Tourism on behalf of all the 18 World Heritage Sites across England. It will be identifying common themes, analysing which locations/activities have greatest resonance with different overseas markets and exploring where there are opportunities to cluster World Heritage themed routes and tours, possibly at a national level.

Our Sales and Marketing Manager, Sue Clarke, says, “14% of visitors to Cumbria are currently from overseas and with two internationally-recognised World Heritage Statuses, it’s a trend that is set to continue in the coming months and years.  Our role is all about cementing a world-class experience by bringing businesses and local authorities together in partnership with VisitEngland and other regions across the country, to ensure we are all working together effectively for maximum impact.

“In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, it is vital that we continually increase the amount of bookable online experiences international visitors can enjoy and keep raising the quality of tourism services and products available to them. These projects are a fantastic platform for Cumbria £2.72billion tourism industry to keep driving forward over the next 12 months.”