Over a hundred tourism businesses, sponsors and supporters of the South West Tourism Awards celebrated an all-too-rare outing on Thursday at the Deer Park Country House in Devon.
The South West was one of the few English regions to continue with its tourism awards programme for 2020/21, when awards ceremonies were held online in place of their usual dinners. Awards organiser Robin Barker said “Although the online events gave us the chance to announce the winners and introduce everyone to each other, everyone was still keen to meet away from the constraints of zoom. Hence this event – a belated chance for top tourism businesses to meet for real, to share anecdotes and smiles.”
Co-organiser Nell Barrington said: “It was a fantastic occasion and great to be able to meet the winners face to face to talk about their challenges and triumphs over the past year. I really can’t wait to get out and visit all these award-winning businesses in South West England, congratulations to them all.”
The 2021/22 Tourism Awards are currently in the judging phase, with awards events planned from February to April 2022.