YORK tourism bosses have praised the city's leading visitor attractions, after the city was named the most group-friendly tourist destination in Britain.

York beat off stiff competition from four other cities in the final of the Group Travel Organiser awards, pushing Blackpool into second place.

It is the second time York has won the award, which is now in its ninth year, and which is voted for by more than 10,000 travel group organisers.

York Tourism Bureau today said the result was a reward for the hard work done to attract tour groups, as well as the broad variety of attractions on offer in York.

Kay Hyde, the organisation's PR manager, said: "I think it is partly that we are very geared up for groups, and we have a dedicated group booking service.

"Anyone can phone our helpline and we will organise everything from start to finish.

"Also, as a city we have so much to offer, such as the world-class National Railway Museum (NRM) the Jorvik Centre, the Castle Museum and art galleries. Tour operators need different reasons to come back again and again, and always want something new to do for their groups. We cater for that really well."

The award was presented to the bureau's marketing manager, Craig Wilson, by BBC newsreader Moira Stuart at an award ceremony at the London Hilton.

Mr Wilson said: "York is particularly loved by groups because it is such an easy city to get around and because we have over 30 visitor attractions, many of them world-class."

Earlier this year, York launched a new series of behind-the-scenes tours especially for groups, entitled Deeper York. These include Jorvik's Above And Below The Scenes Tour, York Minster's Hidden Minster Gems and the NRM's Palaces On Wheels, which offers an insight into the saloon carriages used by Queen Victoria.

Su Matthewman, the NRM's head of marketing, today welcomed the news of York's award, and said it reflected the museum's own findings. She said: "It is tremendous that York has been voted best city for group travel, and we have certainly experienced a noticeable enthusiasm from the groups market. The NRM has had a 56 per cent increase in group visitor figures since the introduction of free admission."

Updated: 09:25 Thursday, June 16, 2005