Winners in the 2010 Group Travel Awards

Here are the finalists in the 2010 Group Travel Awards:

1a) Best Attraction for Group Visits: Long Visit (more than two hour visit)

WINNER = Warwick Castle, Warwickshire
RUNNER-UP = Longleat, Wiltshire
Alton Towers, Staffordshire
Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, County Durham
Black Country Living Museum, West Midlands
Kew Gardens, London
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Hampshire

1b) Best Attraction for Group Visits: Short Visit (less than two hour visit)

WINNER = Buckingham Palace, London
RUNNER-UP = Houses of Parliament, London
Bank of England Museum, London
Cadbury World, Birmingham
Houses of Parliament, London
Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth
The Beatles Story, Liverpool
The Merlin Entertainments London Eye

2) Best Overseas Attraction for Group Visits

WINNER = Disneyland Paris
RUNNER-UP = La Coupole, France
D-Day Museum, Arromanches, France
Keukenhof Gardens, Holland
Phantasialand, Germany
Walt Disney World Resort Orlando, USA

3) Most Group-Friendly UK Destination

WINNER = Hull
RUNNER-UP = York
Blackpool
Bournemouth
Chester
Eastbourne
London
Torquay

4) Most Group-Friendly Overseas Destination

WINNER = Belgium
RUNNER-UP = Austria
Cologne
Duba
Holland
New York

5a) Best Shopping Venue for Groups - Town or Shopping Centre

WINNER = The Trafford Centre, Manchester
RUNNER-UP = Bluewater, Kent
Bristol
Lakeside, Essex
Leeds
Norwich
thecentre: mk, Milton Keynes

5b) Best Shopping Venue for Groups - Market, Mill Shop or Factory Outlet

WINNER = Oswaldtwistle Mills, Lancashire
RUNNER-UP = Swindon Designer Outlet (McArthurGlen)
Boundary Mill Stores, Lancashire
Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet (McArthurGlen)
Clarks Village, Somerset
De Bradelei Wharf, Dover
Fleetwood Market, Lancashire

6) Best Live Stage / Theatrical Performance

WINNER = Oliver!
RUNNER-UP = Sister Act
Billy Elliot
Jersey Boys
Mamma Mia!
The Lion King
Wicked

7) Best Event for Groups

WINNER = Royal Ascot
RUNNER-UP = Holiday on Ice
A Victorian Festival of Christmas at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
BBC Good Food Show
Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
Thursford Christmas Spectacular

8) Best Inland Canal / Riverboat Operator

WINNER = City Cruises, London
RUNNER-UP = Kennet Horse Boat Company, Hungerford
Foulridge Canal Cruises, Lancashire
French Brothers, Windsor
Pennine Boat Trips, Skipton
Thames River Cruises, London
Tiverton Canal Company, Devon

9) Best Off-Shore Cruise Line Operator

WINNER = MSC Cruises
RUNNER-UP = Norwegian Cruise Line
Cunard
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
P&O Cruises
Royal Caribbean International
Saga

10) Most Group-Friendly Hotel Chain or Group

WINNER = Best Western
RUNNER-UP = Park Inns
Daish’s Travel
Hilton
Holiday Inn
Marriott
Ramada Jarvis
Rezidor –

11) Best Individual Hotel for Groups

WINNER = St Kilda Hotel, Llandudno,
RUNNER-UP = The Norbreck Castle Hotel, Blackpool (Britannia Hotels)
Auckland Hotel, Morecambe
Gilsland Spa, Cumbria
Lady Anne Middleton, York
Preston Sands Hotel, Paignton
Trouville Hotel, Isle of Wight

12) Best All-Inclusive Group Holiday Venue

WINNER = Potters Leisure Resort, Norfolk
RUNNER-UP = Cricket St Thomas Hotel, Somerset (Warner Leisure Hotels)
Bembridge Coast Resort, Isle of Wight (Warner Leisure Hotels)
Butlins Bognor Regis ¦ Caister, Norfolk (Haven)
Sand Bay Leisure Resort, Weston-super-Mare (Martyn Leisure Breaks)
Seacroft Holiday Village, Norfolk (Richardson’s)
South Down Holiday Village, West Sussex (Richardson’s)

13) Best University Accommodation for Groups

WINNER = University of Kent at Canterbury
RUNNER-UP = University of Portsmouth
Cardiff University
Imperial College, London
London School of Economics
St Aidan’s College, Durham University
University of Warwick
University of York

14a & b) Best Coach Operator

There are two awards in this category: Best Small Coach Operator and Best Large Coach Operator

14a) Best Small Coach Operator

WINNER = CoachChoice, Wolverhampton
RUNNER-UP = Ruffles Coaches of Castle Hedingham, Surrey

14b) Best Large Coach Operator

WINNER = Shearings Holidays, Wigan
RUNNER-UP = Edward Coaches, Pontypridd
Bowens, Tamworth
Buzzlines Travel, Hythe
Chambers Coaches, Stevenage
Chiltern Travel, Ilford
Diamond Holidays, Swansea
Dover Coaches, Kent
Dunwood Travel
G Line, Blackpool
Nottingham City Coaches
Woods Coaches, Leicester

15) Best Rail Operator for Groups

WINNER = Virgin Trains
RUNNER-UP = South West Trains
Chiltern Railways
Deutsche Bahn (DB)
Eurostar
Eurotunnel
South Eastern Railways

16) Best Sea Crossing Operator for Groups

WINNER = P&O Ferries
RUNNER-UP = Stena Line
Brittany Ferries
Eurotunnel
Irish Ferries
SeaFrance
Wightlink

17) Best Airline for Groups

WINNER = Virgin Atlantic
RUNNER-UP = British Airways
easyJet
Emirates
Flybe
Icelandic
Jet 2

18) Best Company or Venue Offering Guided Tours

WINNER = City and Village Tours, London
RUNNER-UP = BBC Television Centre Tour
Black Country Living Museum, West Midlands
Blue Badge Guides
Cardiff Castle
National Trust
St Paul’s Cathedral, London

19) Best Provision of Disabled Facilities

WINNER = Legoland Windsor
RUNNER-UP = Eden Project, Cornwall
British Museum, London
Clarence House, London
Harewood House, Leeds
The Merlin Entertainments London Eye
Warner Leisure Hotels

20) Best Group Catering Facilities

WINNER = Planet Hollywood
RUNNER-UP = Hard Rock Cafe
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Café Rouge
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire
Central Hall Westminster, London
Harry Ramsden’s

21) Best Printed Information Product

WINNER = English Heritage Group Visits Guide 2009/10
RUNNER-UP = The National Trust Groups Guide 2009
2010 Group Travel Guide to South East England (Tourism South East)
Manchester Group Travel Guide 2009 (Marketing Manchester)
Wales Group Travel Directory
Great Days Out for Groups 2009 (City & Village Tours)

22) Best On-Line Information Service

WINNER = North East England (www.visitnortheastengland.com)
RUNNER-UP = Merlin – Fun Days (www.groupfundays.co.uk)
Cardiff Castle (www.cardiffcastle.com)
Norfolk Tourism (www.visitnorfolk.co.uk)
The National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk)
Royal Collection (www.royalcollection.org.uk)
VisitBritain (www.visitbritain.com)
Yorkshire Tourist Board (www.yorkshire.com/grouptravel)

23) Best Group Ticketing Agency

WINNER = Group Line
RUNNER-UP = Encore Tickets
Ambassador Theatre Group
Applause
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Groups
See Groups
Ticketmaster Groups

24a and b) Best Group Tour Operator

There are two awards in this category reflecting the number of groups carried by each company (not the size of the company): Best Group Tour Operator, Small Carrier and Best Group Tour Operator, Large Carrier

24a) Best Group Tour Operator (Small)

WINNER = Travel Adventure, East Sussex
RUNNER-UP = Tailored Travel, Croydon

24b) Best Group Tour Operator (Large)

WINNER = Airedale Tours, West Yorkshire
WINNER = InterChoice, West Midlands
thecoachholiday.com, Cheltenham
Collette Worldwide Holidays, Middlesex
Greatdays Travel Group, Cheshire
JAG Travel, Surrey
Leger Holidays, Yorkshire
Newmarket Travel Service, Surrey
Saga, Kent
Shearings Holidays, Wigan
Simply Groups, West Yorkshire
Success Tours, Wiltshire
Travel Editions, London
Travelsphere Holidays, Leicestershire

25) Best Overall Group Supplier

Airedale Tours, West Yorkshire

Outstanding Contribution to Group Travel by an Individual

Christine Morgenstern

Editors Award for Innovation in Tourism

Historic Royal Palaces