National stage beckons for tourism award winners
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WINNERS of this year’s Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards will for the first time also be in line for a national title.
The event has joined forces with VisitScotland’s Scottish Thistle Awards scheme in an arrangement that will see all HITA winners automatically being put forward as finalists in the Scottish awards in Edinburgh in November.
HITA chairwoman Marina Huggett believes the move will help raise the profile of leading Highland tourism businesses by providing a bigger showcase.
“We believe that the most important benefit of our partnership with VisitScotland is that our Highlands and Islands tourism businesses will have the opportunity to represent our geographic area and shine on the national stage if they are one of our winners,” she said.
“It provides a progression route which we did not have previously which is very exciting.
“The format of our awards will not change. The awards will still be free to enter; we will still retain our strong Highlands and Islands identity and will keep our region-specific awards. Applications will be made through our web-site as they always have been. The only difference will be that we will align some of our awards to fit with the Scottish Thistle Awards so that our winners will have the opportunity to become national finalists.”
The Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards, whose sponsors include Scottish Provincial Press, publisher of The Inverness Courier, are launched this week and feature 14 categories.
They are: Best Bar, Café or Restaurant; Best Cultural Event; Best Guest House or B&B Best Hotel; Best Self-Serve Accommodation; Best Shopping Experience; Best Sporting Event; Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year; Marketing Campaign of the Year; Best Nature Based Experience; Best Visitor Attraction; Training and Skills Development; and the Ambassador and Young Ambassador of the Year categories.
All are free to enter and submissions should be made online at www.highland-tourism-awards.co.uk. The closing date for entries is 27th April.
