Lots of local finalists announced for county tourism awards

They’ve whittled down finalists for each of the categories for this year’s Leicestershire Promotions Tourism and Hospitality Awards, which will be presented on December 3.

It is particularly good news for The Grange Garden Centre and its associated camping and caravan park with nominations for both in multiple categories.

The Grange Garden Centre, based at Asfordby Hill, is up for the awards for Proud of our People, Taste of England and Great Places to Visit.

And The Grange Camping & Caravan Park is a finalist for the accolades for Regenerative Tourism Award and Places to Stay.

It has been run by John and Katie Houghton since opening in July 2023, and was named best Camping and Glamping Park in 2024.

There is lots of local interest in the Taste of England category with the Feast and The Furious - BBQ Smokehouse (Stockyard, Melton Mowbray), The Odd Clock Cafe (Sherrard Street, Melton), Upper Broughton pub The Tap and Run plus The Welcome Cafe at Hollands Nurseries (Twyford) also shortlisted.

Local finalists for Great Places to Visit also include Gates Garden Centre (Cold Overton) and Brian Fare’s HistoryFare local history tours and talks in Melton.

Hidden Food Tours, founded by Charla Forinton and Matt Hall, is shortlisted for Experience of the Year for its foodie tours of the borough and they will be hoping to follow up last year’s award for Best New Tourism Business.

Melton Mowbray’s Sysonby Knoll Hotel and Restaurant is a finalist for Places to Stay while the Melton Carnegie Museum is one of those shortlisted for Proud of our People.

Organisers of the annual 1940s Melton Mowbray, which attracts thousands of nostalgia-lovers to the town, will be happy to be named as a finalist for Events/Festivals after being named as Best Free Event last year.

Gold, silver and bronze winners will be announced at the glittering presentation ceremony at Athena in Leicester.

Now in its 15th year, the tourism and hospitality awards - organised by tourism specialists Leicestershire Promotions - are the regional heat of the national Visit England Awards for Excellence.

Thirteen of the winners will automatically proceed to the shortlist of the national awards.

This year there have been a record number of applications and the introduction of two new categories have been very popular with Leicestershire businesses.

The next stage of judging includes extensive mystery shopping from the judging teams before the final scores are assessed by a panel of expert judges.

Martin Peters, chief executive of Leicestershire Promotions, said: “We pride ourselves on ensuring a fair but rigorous approach to the judging process.

"All the finalists have worked very hard indeed to reach this far.

"As always, the competition is extremely fierce and we look forward to revealing the deserved winners at the renowned ceremony in December.”

The awards are sponsored by Pear Communications, Novotel Leicester and supported by Visit England and the local visitor economy partnership.

Nominations are also open for the ‘Best Day Out’, the winner of which is decided by public vote.

Go to goleicestershire.com/trade/vote to vote for this award.