The stars of the West Midlands tourism industry have been crowned at the 2024 West Midlands Tourism Awards, celebrating 14 winners from the region’s visitor attractions and venues.
Businesses across the region’s accommodation, arts, food & drink, visitor attraction and heritage sectors were honoured in categories including New Tourism Business and Taste of the West Midlands.
Hosted at The Bear Grylls Adventure in Solihull, the awards celebrated the hard work and dedication of the West Midlands’ visitor attractions and venues to providing excellent visitor experiences. Among the winners, Birmingham-based restaurant Chapter took home first prize for Taste of the West Midlands, Warwick Castle won Large Visitor Attraction and Shrewsbury Food Festival came first for Event of the year.
The event was hosted by Ayo Akinwolere, former Blue Peter presenter and current BBC journalist and presenter, with entertainment from Birmingham three-piece band, Yung Bruddas.
Andrew Lovett, chair of the West Midlands Tourism and Hospitality Advisory Board, said:
“This year’s West Midlands Tourism Awards gave us the opportunity to come together to applaud the talent, business acumen and hard work of our tourism sector.
“With an evening of celebration and entertainment, we paid tribute to the visitor attractions, events, accommodation, and hospitality venues, which have helped the region to secure record visitors, create jobs and grow the tourism economy.
“These awards get better each year and I thank the judges for their dedication in drawing out the best of the best. The West Midlands Tourism Awards showcased the versatility of The Bear Grylls Adventure venue in Solihull for evening events, featuring a diver in the aquarium with the #WMTA24 hashtag for all the guests.
“Congratulations to the winners and runners-up in each category, all of whom can be extremely proud. We hope the winners go on to even wider recognition at the national awards later this year.”
The winners (gold) and runners-up (silver) from the 2024 West Midlands Tourism Awards automatically qualify for the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, to be held in June, where our winners will be in with a chance of recognition as national champions.
The awards are supported by the West Midlands Growth Company, the region’s official destination marketing agency. This year's awards sponsors included University College Birmingham, Discus Cyber Security Services, Birmingham and West Midlands Convention Bureau and Pertemps Network Group.
The West Midlands Tourism Awards 2024 winners included:
Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award |
|
Midlands Art Centre |
Gold |
St Mary’s Guildhall |
Silver |
Burlton Cottages & Spa |
Bronze |
Business Events Venue of the Year |
|
Warwick Conferences |
Gold |
Telford International Centre |
Silver |
Millennium Point |
Bronze |
Camping, Glamping, Holiday Park & Small Serviced Accommodation of the Year |
|
Love2Stay Shrewsbury |
Gold |
Scout’s Meadow |
Silver |
Riverside Cabins |
Bronze |
Ethical, Responsible & Sustainable Tourism Award |
|
Riverside Cabins |
Gold |
Broome Park Farm B&B |
Silver |
Clayton Hotel Birmingham |
Bronze |
Tourism Event/Festival of the Year |
|
Shrewsbury Food Festival |
Gold |
Moseley Folk & Arts Festival |
Silver |
Birmingham 2022 Festival & Birmingham Festival & The Midlands Air Festival |
Bronze (Joint) |
Experience of the Year |
|
Shakespeare Distillery |
Gold |
The Shropshire Distillery |
Silver |
Go Ape Cannock |
Bronze |
Large Hotel of the Year |
|
Coombe Abbey Hotel |
Gold |
Clayton Hotel |
Silver |
Edgbaston Park & Conference Centre |
Bronze |
Large Visitor Attraction of the Year |
|
Warwick Castle |
Gold |
Alderford Lake |
Silver |
Luna Springs Digbeth |
Bronze |
New Tourism Business Award |
|
West Midlands Police Museum |
Gold |
Marrington Escapes |
Silver |
Kin Kitchen |
Bronze |
Pub of the Year |
|
The Canal House |
Gold |
The Coach House |
Silver |
Dhillon’s Brewery |
Bronze |
Small Serviced Accommodation of the Year |
|
Fishmore Hall |
Gold |
Goldstone Hall Hotel & Gardens |
Silver |
Broome Park Farm B&B |
Bronze |
Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year |
|
Burlton Cottages & Spa |
Gold |
Ironbridge View Townhouse |
Silver |
Puddle Duck Cottages |
Bronze |
Small Visitor Attraction of the Year |
|
Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall |
Gold |
Cotsworld Distillery |
Silver |
Selly Manor Museum |
Bronze |
Taste of the West Midlands |
|
Chapter |
Gold |
Libertine Burger |
Silver |
Baxter Baristas @ 16 Hales Street |
Bronze |