The Italian Villa, based at Compton Acres in Poole, has won the Gold award for “Venue & Business Tourism” at the annual Dorset Tourism Awards. The multi award-winning venue were put through a gruelling multi-stage judging process, including mystery visits, and came out tops in their category.
The illustrious awards ceremony, attended by 300 guests, took place on Thursday 16 November at The Lighthouse, Poole, and was hosted by BBC Radio Solent’s Steve Harris. The night celebrated the very best tourism businesses from across Dorset, with trophies being handed to 66 winners from all corners of the county – whittled down from a record number of entries this year.
The judges congratulated The Italian Villa for excelling through the stages of judging and were particularly impressed by the sheer number of people The Italian Villa bring into the region from across the UK and abroad through many weddings, corporate, and private events.
Commenting on the win, Tony Beales, Managing Director of The Italian Villa, commented:
“We are absolutely thrilled to have won the Gold Award for Venue & Business Tourism. 2017 is looking likely to be our best year in business yet, and our fantastic team has worked incredibly hard to get us here – making this award even more valuable to us. I believe this is a testament to the incredible team we have at The Italian Villa and I would like to thank everyone who has made winning this award possible.”
Chairman of the Judges, Professor Peter Jones commented: “As chairman of the Dorset tourism awards judging panel I’m delighted to report that the work of the panel becomes harder year-on-year. This is not just because of the number and the quality of the applications, but is a reflection of the commitment of the tourism businesses of whatever size and type in enhancing and developing the true authentic Dorset visitor experience.”
The Dorset Tourism Awards have seen year on year growth since their launch in June 2013. Robin Barker, who has developed the awards from first concept to their current success has been delighted with progress, saying: “This year has seen record entries, more sponsors and our biggest Dorset event ever. Many congratulations to all the winners, who we look forward to working with in their quest for ever higher standards.”
Successful businesses in the Dorset Awards will now be fast tracked into the South West Tourism Excellence Awards in Torquay in February 2018 and possibly on to the National Visit England Awards in April 2018.
For more information on the award-winning Italian Villa visit: http://www.the-italian-villa.co.uk.