As English Tourism Week gets underway VisitEngland is delighted to announce that Lilian Groves from Durham Cathedral has won a public vote to become England’s Tourism Superstar 2016. This is the second consecutive Tourism Superstar win from Durham.
LONDON, 2016-Mar-08 — /Travel PR News/ — As English Tourism Week gets underway VisitEngland is delighted to announce that Lilian Groves from Durham Cathedral has won a public vote to become England’s Tourism Superstar 2016. This is the second consecutive Tourism Superstar win from Durham.
Competing against ten other shortlisted finalists, Lilian came top of a public vote run by the national tourist board in partnership with the Daily Mirror. Designed to recognise the dedication and passion of those working in the tourism industry, the accolade is awarded to individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure visitors to England have a memorable experience. All 11 shortlisted finalists featured in a short film on the Daily Mirror website, with the public voting online for the one they thought deserved to be crowned Tourism Superstar 2016. Over 12,400 votes were generated in total this year and Lilian received an impressive 22 per cent of the total votes cast.
Lilian works as a Senior Guide at Durham Cathedral in the heart of Durham City and has volunteered there for the last 25 years. Now in her 80s, she is an experienced guide with a wealth of knowledge who regularly and passionately leads guided tours for the public and notable stars. Capturing the hearts and minds of visitors from across the globe, Lilian is synonymous with Durham Cathedral. During Durham Cathedral and Visit County Durham’s enthusiastic campaigning, Lilian received public support from the legendary musician Sting, had a choral song written and performed for her and was immortalised in Lego.
Rose MacInnes, Visitor Centre Supervisor at Plymouth Gin (Blackfriars Distillery) in Plymouth was a worthy runner-up in second place and Rachel Duffield, Learning and Engagement Officer at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse in Norfolk was incredibly close behind in third place.
Commenting on her achievement, Lilian said: ‘I was thrilled to discover that I had won VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstar Award 2016! It is wonderful news – not for me, but for Durham Cathedral and the whole county. I feel so grateful for the support that I have received from staff and other volunteers at Durham Cathedral throughout the campaign and it is overwhelming to know that so many people voted for me as their Tourism Superstar. I would like to thank everyone who voted, and encourage everyone to visit Durham and Durham Cathedral. It is such a special place!’
Michelle Gorman, Managing Director of Visit County Durham, added: “We are absolutely delighted that Lilian has won this prestigious national title. Lilian is an extremely worthy winner and her work as a volunteer tour guide has clearly struck a chord with so many people. The fact that this is two years in a row that Durham Tourism Superstar winners have gone on to win VisitEngland’s national Tourism Superstar award is also testament to the quality of the people working in Durham’s tourism industry.”
Sally Balcombe, CEO of VisitBritain and VisitEngland said: “I’d like to congratulate all our finalists for their fantastic contribution to English tourism, and in particular Lilian for winning Tourism Superstar 2016. Her lengthy dedication to her role at Durham Cathedral and her commitment to ensure all visitors to the cathedral and County Durham benefit from a top quality visitor experience clearly made her a deserving winner. Overall, we had a marvellous response this year to the competition and I wish Lilian the very best and many more years of delivering exceptional tours.”
Lilian will be invited to accept her award at VisitEngland’s Awards for Excellence held on 8 March 2016 at Blackpool Winter Gardens, where an audience from across the tourism industry will recognise the contribution individuals and businesses bring to tourism in England.
The Tourism Superstar accolade was launched in 2012 as part of the first-ever English Tourism Week. Last year’s winner was Matthew Henderson, Engagement & Participation Team Assistant at Beamish Museum which is also in Durham.
English Tourism Week 2016 is designed to promote the value of the tourism industry at a national and local level. This coming week (5 – 13 March) will see hundreds of attractions, hotels and other tourism businesses across England delivering special events, promotions and competitions to encourage more visitors through their doors and inspire people to become tourism ambassadors for their local area.
To find out what’s going on in your area for English Tourism Week 2016, visit www.visitengland.com/english-tourism-week.
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Press enquiries:
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact: Jenia Jeroh, Corporate Communications Manager on T: 020 7578 1482|M: 07583 103881|E: jenia.jeroh@visitengland.org | W: www.visitengland.com/biz
Notes to editors:
About VisitEngland
- VisitEngland’s focus is on the development and delivery of the new Discover England fund for product development to ensure that bookable regional product is being sold in international markets. This activity will also benefit the domestic industry by building engagement and partnerships between and across regions and developing product that will be attractive to both domestic and international markets.
- Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics
- Tourism in England is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
About English Tourism Week
English Tourism Week is led by the national tourist board, VisitEngland, and is an industry-wide initiative designed to shine a light on the importance of tourism in England. The industry as a whole is worth £106billion to the UK economy and supports 2.6 million jobs. Hundreds of tourism organisations and businesses will be putting on events to celebrate English Tourism Week this year. For more information about English Tourism Week see www.englishtourismweek.co.uk
About the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2016
- The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2016 celebrate the best of English tourism. They promote healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England’s place as a world-class destination. www.visitenglandawards.org.
- The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence are firmly established as representing the highest accolade in English tourism
- The categories for the 2016 awards include: Access for All Tourism Award, Bed & Breakfast Award, Business Tourism Award, Dog Friendly Business of the Year, Holiday Park / Holiday Village of the Year, Large Hotel of the Year, Large Visitor Attraction of the Year, Self-Catering Holiday Provider of the Year, Small Hotel of the Year, Small Visitor Attraction of the Year, Sustainable Tourism Award, Taste of England Award, Tourism Event of the Year, Tourism Experience of the Year, Tourism Pub of the Year, Visitor Information Provider of the Year.
- In addition to the 16 categories are the additional Awards of Tourism Superstar and Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. The Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award will be announced on the night. Previous winners of this award have included The Great English Pub, Michael Eavis CBE, HM The Queen, the Harry Potter films, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Paul McCartney, Liverpool, The National Trust, the English Garden, 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Makers, The Travel Agent and last year The Chefs of England.
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VisitEngland announces Lilian Groves from Durham Cathedral as England’s Tourism Superstar 2016