THE stars of York’s tourism industry will be recognised for their exceptional work at a prestigious annual awards ceremony.

The Visit York Tourism Awards, which are now open for entries, are returning to shine the spotlight on excellence in the tourism industry and reward outstanding service, innovation and quality.

Tourism organisation Visit York said the event will provide a “fantastic platform” to showcase businesses to a 500-strong audience from York’s tourism sector.

Businesses from across the city, including hotels, restaurants, pubs and visitor attractions, have until the deadline on March 1 to submit their entries.

Kay Hyde, head of communications for Make It York, said: “The Visit York annual tourism awards are a brilliant showcase for the talent, hard work and creativity of the city’s tourism sector.

“From brilliant exhibitions put on by the city’s museums and attractions, to celebrating York’s very best bed and breakfast, our judges will be looking for the crème de la crème of the industry.”

The 15 award categories for 2017 range from Bed and Breakfast the Year and Café or Tearoom of the Year to Shopping Experience of the Year and Visitor Attraction of the Year. For the full list of categories, visit www.visityork.org/awards

A panel of independent judges will decide on the final shortlist and winners through a mix of mystery shopping and rigorous analysis against the entry criteria.

The black tie awards ceremony announcing the winners will be held on June 22 at the National Railway Museum, in the Great Hall. Businesses can download the forms and enter the Visit York Tourism Awards online at www.visityork.org/awards. Winners will have the opportunity to then go forward to the regional White Rose Awards and national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.

Richard Mansell, general manager of the Principal York, winner of the coveted Best Hotel title in the 2016 awards, said: “Winning the award in 2016 was not only great for the hotel but importantly it recognized all of the brilliant team here who work so hard to welcome visitors to the city.”