UKinbound, the British travel trade association which represents over 370 of the country’s tourism businesses, honoured eight of its members with Awards for Excellence at its special 40th anniversary Annual Convention in Plymouth last week. 

Stand-up comedian Ed Gamble presented the awards in front of an audience of over 240 people at a gala dinner held at the Plymouth Guildhall. Members were asked to self-nominate themselves for the awards and cast their votes in order to draw up a shortlist. The winners were then chosen by an independent panel of industry experts consisting of David Cianfarani, former chairman of UKinbound, Michael Hirst, chairman of the Business Visits and Events Partnership, and Terri Scriven, head of travel at Google.

Awards were secured by the following UKinbound members:

Destination Marketing Company of the Year – Tourism South East

Individual Attraction of the Year – Blenheim Palace

Tour Operator of the Year – JacTravel

Accommodation Provider of the Year – Group and Independent – Jurys Inn

Service Provider of the Year – Transport and Sightseeing – The Original London Sightseeing Tour

Service Provider of the Year – Professional Services – made

Service Provider of the Year – Restaurant, Retail and Ticketing – Hospitality Line

UKinbound chairman Mark McVay also presented his Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism, which was awarded to John Wales, CEO of Encore Tickets.

Deirdre Wells OBE, CEO UKinbound commented: “Our awards recognise the ongoing commitment and contribution of our members to the UK inbound tourism sector. In spite of the challenges faced in 2016, our members continue to excel in every field of the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors, and we are delighted to acknowledge a number of their outstanding performances.”

The UKinbound awards were presented during the association’s special 40th Annual Convention which took place 8-10 February in Plymouth. In celebration of its 40th anniversary, UKinbound also unveiled a new brand identity at the convention and welcomed influential key-note speakers including Graham Pickett, UK and global leader for the travel and aviation sector at Deloitte and Deirdre Bounds, founder and CEO of Go Cambio.