“The Dorset Tourism Awards are an important indication of the quality that our visitors can expect.  Knowing that independent, external assessors have judged our Museum & Art Gallery to be amongst the best in Dorset is a fantastic accolade.  We invest time and resources into the process of applying, due to the value we place in this recognised quality assurance that we know gives our audiences confidence in relation to their decision to visit.”

Claire, Dorset Museum & Art Gallery

“Our whole team are over the moon to be finalists in the Pub of the Year category and to be representing Dorset for this national award. It is a true testament to the teams hard work, passion and dedication. We are so proud of this incredible achievement!”

Natalie, Acorn Inn

“Thankyou so much for an amazing evening – thank you!!  We are so proud to have come so far, with a small team and achieved so much ! The awards certainly have changed the way we are operating, we have swapped to 100% sustainable products wherever possible whilst continually trying to lower our carbon footprint. Each element of our business is being relooked at and we as a whole are moving together to green our business. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou …for the opportunity, the win, the fantastic benefits that come from the award and most of all … the measures we are putting in place to see you next year”

Jacci, Upwey Wishing Well Tearooms

“This is just what the doctor ordered for the team!  We’re all finding it hard getting ready for the new season at in this relentless wind and rain, our gold award is the most fantastic energy boost we needed.  Thank you so much for all your support over the years. Our recent Facebook posting about our wins for the Dorset Tourism Awards and the South West Tourism Awards have had the highest likes, comments and shares of all our Facebook posts.  It clearly proves how important the awards are – not only to us, but to our supporters.   You can’t pay for that marketing!”

Mary-Anne, Nothe Fort

“We wanted to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude for the incredible event you organized last night—the Dorset Awards were truly remarkable, and we were thrilled to be a part of it.  Your dedication and meticulous planning made the evening an unforgettable experience for our guests. From the seamless organization to the attention to detail, every aspect of the event reflected your commitment to excellence.  Additionally, we appreciate the ongoing support you provide to businesses like ours. Your guidance and encouragement mean a great deal to us, and we are truly grateful for your continued assistance.  Once again, thank you for your exceptional work and unwavering support.”

Severine and Frederic, St Tropez Lounge

“We are absolutely thrilled to have received two awards from the Dorset Tourism Awards. The awards process itself was very rewarding. It really helps you to dig deep into your business plan and get a fresh perspective on what your guests and clients get from your business. Finding ways in which you can improve what you offer and to track your progress. The awards night was wonderful and it was great to reconnect with fellow local business that have made us feel so welcome to the area. Community over competition is key in a tourism environment. Thank you again.”

Daniell, Rudge Farm Cottages

“My first foray into entering any awards. I met some great people, came away with all sorts of Ideas about how to grow and improve my business and my very first piece of winning glassware, Thank you to all the team at Dorset Tourism Awards.”

Louisa, Barton Cottage Bed & Breakfast

“We still regards ourselves as ‘newbies’ in the b & b world.  We entered for the Tourism Awards hoping to get expert feedback on how we are doing.  The whole experience has proved to be more valuable than we ever imagined.  We have had extremely helpful feedback throughout the judging process and made some invaluable contacts along the way.  The icing on the cake has to be winning Gold in Dorset and the Southwest.  The whole process has been a positive experience from the start…..making the application really makes you assess what you and your business are about.”  

Nikki, The Brunswick B & B

“This belongs to the team, their exceptional, top quality ‘’nothing is too much trouble” attitude deserves this recognition. This award follows on from the success of winning Winner of Winners, earlier this year at the Dorset Tourism Awards, which gave us entry to the South West Tourism Excellence Awards. We believe customers deserve excellent, quality service, and a warm welcome. It is lovely to see all the hard work, ongoing investments, and attention to detail were recognised by the judges who secretly shopped our experience. We always listen to feedback from our customers, so we are grateful for the opportunity for feedback from the judges. Success is golden and we are looking forward to the sunshine ahead.”  

Sandra Palmer-Snellin, Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park

“Our main reason to enter was to benchmark the cookery school within the industry.  The opportunity to be judged by a mystery guest with lifelong hospitality experience was invaluable to us.  Obviously we were thrilled to receive GOLD but the extensive feedback forms with considered advice enabled us to focus on the points that we wish to improve. Entering at county level also gave us the opportunity to be considered for the South West Tourism Awards.  This hadn’t been a consideration to enter, but when the opportunity arose, it was fabulous PR.  Now, we have just discovered that the cookery school has been shortlisted in the Visit England Awards at national level, we are truly overwhelmed.  If I can offer any advice about completing your entry form, it would be don’t leave it to the last moment, it is a lengthy document and take time to include statistics and graphs as well as answering the questions in full. If you are serious about your tourism business, this really is an opportunity to good to miss.”  

Lisa, All Hallows Farmhouse Cookery School

“The effect of winning was amazing. Other businesses suddenly stood up and took notice if us, we gained higher standing within the town and our volunteers were excited and proud to be part of our organisation.  We have made many friends and useful contacts in the Tourism Industry through taking part in the awards.  Thanks to the helpful feedback from the judges our business has continued to develop and improve our offer to our visitors in all areas of the business.”  

West Bay Discovery Centre

“The Judging Feedback report is incredibly helpful and practical.  We have shared it with our chairman, and look forward to making the improvements.”

The Nothe Fort Team

“Thank you for your support through this tough year and for nominating us as finalists. We were so thrilled to have some happy news in 2020! We have enjoyed the process which was a good exercise for us as we have never entered any awards before. Your enthusiasm and dedication is inspiring so thank you to everyone involved in making these awards happen.”

Jade & Dan, Fore/Adventure

“This was our first year entering and we’ve found the entire process a really positive experience, not just with the awards presentations but also the application process. We found it really made us sit down and look at our business’ strengths and weaknesses and it was a great exercise to step back from the day to day running of things and look at the bigger picture.”  

Stefan and Jane, Shore Campers

“Thank you for all your support the past few years, I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for all the awards and I would probably be struggling considerably more this year, if it hadn’t been for the accolades from the past 3 years that have given my business such a great, grounding reputation”  

Saira, Mellulah Yoga Retreats

“The judges feedback that we have recently received has provided us with a valuable insight into our business with realistic and implementable suggestions for improvement, many are already in the works!”  

Hannah, Farmstead Glamping

“We as a family are overwhelmed to have been awarded the top accolade ‘Gold’ in Small attraction of the year award. It is not only a pat on the back for everyone’s hard work but a fantastic opportunity to receive and give support to other tourism business within the South West. How wonderful it has been to engage with other tourism businesses and other pillars of the community. We would like to say a huge thank you to all involved in the Awards. The evening was splendid, we appreciate all the hard work and organisation in which you have all put in to making so fantastic! Its the first time we have entered the awards and hope it will not be the last!”  

Taya & Family, Dorset Heavy Horse Farm Park

“Many thanks to you and your team for a fantastic and hugely successful Dorset Tourism Awards 2018. All of us at Create at the Cove are truly touched by receiving two prestigious awards this year.  As always, please do give me a shout if you require any Gold Winners to volunteer to be a judge in the 2019 process.  I would love to have the opportunity to bring my experiences to the team.” 

Matt, Create at the Cove

“Thank you so much for a fantastic evening and for all the wonderful associated activities, we had so much fun and it was lovely to see everyone else in similar and related businesses.” 

Theresa, Liz and Margaret, Golden Acre Holiday Bungalows

“What a great night! we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously, the food was delicious and the ambiance amongst the finalists was inspiring. Today we are very busy on social media and other platforms spreading our news, and the trophies of course are pride of place in the office. On behalf of all us at South Lytchett we thank you very much for putting on such an amazing event.” 

Jo, South Lytchett Manor

“Di and I would like to say thank you for a lovely evening last night and we were so happy to receive our Bronze Award.  This has enthused us both to keep on pushing Burngate and aim higher in our provision to our customers. Details in your email have been noted and photos have been downloaded, we will be having our Bronze Award poster professionally printed and these will be displayed or added wherever we can!! Once again, thank you for a lovely evening and it really was a fantastic experience.  We got to meet some lovely people and listened to business advice and ideas for the future.” 

Julia, Burngate Stone Centre

“We entered the awards to see how we compared with other business’s in our sector, to be judged by an independent body to show our strengths and weakness. It was a very positive experience, enjoyed by all the team, especially getting an award on our first ever entry. Check and double check your entry, get others to proof read your entry. We lost points by an admin error the marketing person put her home post code on the entry form !!!, so our poor judges had difficulty finding us. Never think you are too small or insignificant as a business to enter.”  

Sally, Longthorns Farm