FAQs

Accessibility is about removing barriers (physical, digital or operational) and doing what you reasonably can to provide a quality experience for all visitors.

VisitEngland report that nearly one in four people has a disability and that by 2040 nearly one in seven people are projected to be aged over 75.  The spending power of disabled people and their households is called the Purple Pound and is estimated to be worth £14.6 billion in tourism spend in England annually.

While it can be easy for attention to focus on the physical measures put in place – particularly in relation to mobility – accessibility is much broader than this.

Remember the breadth of access needs – for example, sensory impairments (such as hearing/visual impairments), autism/ neurodivergence, dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions – and that actions to improve access can have a wide ranging benefit e.g. to parents with buggies, visitors with luggage and many who have minor conditions that they wouldn’t consider a disability (in particular, minor age related conditions).

Structural improvements are important but by far the only – or even most important – improvement. Information (both pre arrival and at your property) is critical for visitors with access needs. Pre arrival information, which is easy to locate and well presented, can help visitors make informed decisions and build confidence, while providing on site information that easy to read and in a variety of formats makes it more helpful and engaging. Face to face interaction is also critical to the experience and so investments made in building awareness and confidence through training is another critical aspect. And, for organisations with a larger staff team, think about actions to be accessible as an employer.

Use your answer to show what you are doing to make your business as accessible and inclusive as possible so that everyone feels welcome and able to enjoy their visit. Responses which show breadth – both in the type of actions taken (information, physical adaptations, staff interaction) and the range of access needs – are encouraged.

If you would like more information about accessibility VisitEngland has an excellent website with lots of useful information.  Historic England has information about improving access to historic buildings here.

You certainly can, but please don’t sit back and expect the business to flow in.  Winning an award gives you a great ‘tool’ and media story, and if used effectively in your own PR, social media and marketing, you should certainly expect to win new business.  We’ll do all we can to help and suggest some of the tools you may consider using. You can find PR and other tips for making the most of awards here VisitEngland Awards PR Toolkit.

Yes the awards are free to enter and you will receive free feedback.

If you are a winner you will be able to use the winners logo (and get associated PR benefits), receive a certificate and/or an award and get an opportunity to attend the awards ceremony.

The only costs that could be incurred by entrants are:

1. If you get shortlisted and visited by one of our judges, any costs incurred will need to be met by the entrant as outlined in our T & Cs.
2. Awards ceremony tickets will be available to purchase to attend.
3. Workshop tickets can be purchased for £12.50+vat to help you complete your entry, details can be found here.

You can access a copy of your entry form(s) to either view, save or print by logging back into your account at visitengland-chapters.secure-platform.com/a/ ; on the left hand menu you’ll see an option to access ‘completed entries’.

Focus on the main aspect of your business and enter the category that’s the closest match. It’s often useful to consider how you market your business, who (and what type of business) is your main competition and how your guests would describe your business; all of these can help determine the category that will be the best fit for you.

Make sure that you include all that you have done to be more sustainable in your answers.  VisitEngland has comprehensive information to help in this important area, please click here for details.

Change link to

Don’t worry – the awards are designed to recognise excellence not size or budget. Judges are simply looking for who is the best in each category.

Tourism is a huge and diverse industry and we try to offer an opportunity for every business to enter, but have to balance this out with categories that have enough entries to make them viable and the need for an awards night that finishes at a sensible hour! If you can’t find a category to match your business, please get in touch with us and we’ll give you guidance on what to do.

We’d love to visit every business that enters, but our judges are mainly volunteers and the whole programme has to be handled within the budgets made possible by sponsor funding. We will normally visit the top-scoring entrants in each category, but will do our best to visit as many as we can.

Almost certainly not!  Judges want to see the passion for excellence that comes from a business owner or manager.  They want evidence rather than ‘fluff’ – and won’t be impressed by hyperbolae and marketing-speak.  Please be yourself!

Remarkably, the last few years have seen very few ‘repeat winners’ and the judging requirement for year-on-year quality enhancements makes it very hard for anyone to win again unless they have made significant new investments in their business or are genuinely outstanding in their field.

Theatres are eligible to enter Accessible and Inclusive Tourism, Innovative Employer, Regenerative Tourism Award, New Tourism Business and Unsung Hero.  Theatres are only eligible to enter the Visitor Attractions categories if they provide a tour, museum or exhibition element.  Please read the eligibility information on the entry forms for more details about each category.

Self Catering agencies are welcome to enter single properties or collections in one location into the Self Catering Accommodation, Regenerative Tourism, Access and Inclusivity, International Tourism and Dog Friendly categories.

This applies to a single self-catering property or a collection of self-catering properties in one location (on a single site) owned by the same proprietor and of a similar quality.   A business with multiple properties across different locations is not eligible to apply in its entirety. However, an application may be completed for a specific location (on a single site) if it is clearly identified within any marketing e.g. website.

Large self-catering accommodation complexes (e.g. with chalets and lodges) with a range of facilities and activities available should apply for the Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park of the Year category.

Agencies are also welcome to submit nominations for Unsung Hero and Innovative Employer.

The starting point is to submit an entry into the Tourism Awards scheme that covers the county where your business is based.  From there, certain categories feed into the national VisitEngland Awards and winners in those (VE) categories may be selected to represent the South West at the national Awards which are held annually in June.

if you’re uncertain which scheme you should enter, please contact us for guidance.

The VisitEngland Awards merge some of our categories so you might not see them initially.

For example to enter Active and Learning or Wellness & Spa you must select Experience of the Year then further down the page you will see another drop down where you can select your choice, as shown below. The same applies for Taste and Camping, Glamping and Holiday Park.

Yes, you can. Using AI to help with wording, spelling, grammar, or shaping your ideas is absolutely fine. We understand it can be a helpful tool but that said, your entry needs to be based on your own real experiences, achievements and facts. AI can help polish the story, but the heart of it, the work you’ve done and the impact you’ve made should come from you.

We’re looking for genuine, authentic entries, so make sure you answer each question clearly and truthfully using the examples given on the entry form as your guide.