A Night To Remember
Tourism businesses from all over Lancashire gathered for an evening full of celebrations writes Olivia Beaty
Finalists and guests gathered at the stunning, world famous venue of Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the Lancashire Tourism Awards 2017 with headline sponsor The University of Central Lancashire. The winners were revealed at the glamorous event which was attended by more than 500 guests.
Greeted with a glass of fizz the invitees arrived dressed to impress and mingled in the bar area before being seated in the spectacular ballroom. Selfie props were laid on the tables which kept everyone amused until the food was served.
Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire kickstarted the evening with a warm welcome and emphasised just how much of a delightful area Lancashire is to live and work. “Each year I am incredibly proud to introduce these awards,” expressed Ruth. “Together we champion the importance of the £4.13 billion visitor economy which attracts 67 million visitors to Lancashire each year and supports over 59,000 jobs.”
Outstanding service and appetising food was provided by Twelve Event Management, Thornton. Following the delicious dessert, the giving of the 22 awards began with 106 apprehensive finalists in the audience.
Burnley born, journalism and broadcaster, Tony Livesey presented the evening, he spoke of his love for Lancashire and kept the audience entertained with his wittiness. Special guests were invited to the stage to award each winner.
The evenings overall winners were Browsome Hall which took home three awards, Sustainable Tourism Award, The Wedding Venue Award and Inclusive Tourism Award.
Huge congratulations to The Cartford Inn who won the Lancashire Pub Award. Cartford Inn Owner, Julie Beaume said “It is always a great feeling to win an award. This one in particular as it means we go on to represent Lancashire in the national final, and this creates a fantastic buzz around the Inn.”
Other winners included Dewlay Cheesemakers – Garstang, Cloudspotting – Slaidburn, Winter Gardens – Blackpool, Whalley Warm & Dry – Whalley, Bertram’s Restaurant – Burnley and The Spread Eagle – Sawley.
The last award of the evening Tourism Superstar was awarded to Laura Johnson, founder of Crafty Vintage who to date has held 97 events and welcomes over 150,000 visitors.
The winners celebrated into the early hours with entertainment by the Danny Finn Trio with the big band sounds of The Soul Convicts.
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who made this night a huge success. See you next year.
