VisitEngland Awards for Excellence
Intro to the awards
The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence are always about more than just trophies and speeches. They are a true celebration of the excellence and innovation - and the people - in the tourism sector.
This year’s ceremony, held at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, was a great night out for VisitEngland and some of the top tourism businesses in the country.
It’s always an amazing night - as the highlights from the 2025 VisitEngland Awards for Excellence at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange shows.
About the awards
Our annual VisitEngland Awards for Excellence champion the very best of the country’s tourism industry – celebrating quality, innovation and customer service. Winning an award shows that your business is among the best in the country, and provides valuable media exposure, business development and networking opportunities.
The awards cycle begins with a series of regional competitions, which feed up to the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. Entering is easy. All you need to do is complete a single application to your local competition. If you win, you’ll automatically proceed to the national contest, which is decided by a team of expert judges.
The highlight of each year is the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence event, where the finest tourism businesses receive the industry’s most coveted accolades.
In recognition of running a high quality, fair and transparent awards programme, the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence have been accredited with the Awards Trust Mark.
How the awards work
Explore the application process
Find out why to apply, how to apply, what the different categories are and how local competitions lead to the national event.
The judging process
Learn more about the decision-making process and meet the expert judges behind each national award.
Become a sponsor
Why become a sponsor?
Enhance visibility and reputation: Sponsorship can boost your brand's recognition and associate it with excellence and recognition.
Networking opportunities: Connect with other businesses and industry leaders, establishing valuable relationships.
Brand alignment: Associate your brand with the national tourist board - VisitEngland
Sykes quote
We are proud to sponsor the Visit England Awards, as they celebrate the very best in English tourism. This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission to provide high-quality holiday experiences and supports our commitment to promoting excellence in the tourism industry. It’s an opportunity to connect with like-minded partners and showcase the beauty and diversity of holiday destinations across England.
sponsorship contact
To discuss sponsorship opportunities, email [email protected].
Frequently asked questions
The local awards are open to tourism businesses that are located in the catchment area of the relevant destination. In order to be forwarded to the national awards, the local competition must be officially linked to and recognised by the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. All businesses must be directly involved in tourism, contributing to the visitor economy with a significant proportion of business generated by people visiting from outside the local area. Winners of local awards will automatically be entered into the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
Category-specific eligibility requirements can be found on the awards categories page.
It is free to be put forward to the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. Local competitions may charge an entry fee, although the majority are free or only charge non-members to apply.
To ensure a level playing field, all applicants must succeed in their local competition in order to progress to the national awards. We are liaising with destinations that do not currently offer local awards to offer support in setting up a competition.
If there isn’t a local competition in your area, you can contact your local Destination Management Organisation to let them know that you’re interested in them establishing one that’s officially linked to and recognised by the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
All applications, regardless of which local competition you are applying for, are judged using the same guidelines. Feedback is given to every entrant on how they can improve their application. Once all entries have been scored, a shortlist is created to help determine the overall local winner.
Some competitions may carry out judging visits to all applicants, while others may visit a selection. Local winners are automatically put forward to the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
More information on the national judging process can be found on the Judging page.
