Thursday 25 September 2014
London topped the leaderboard at a prestigious travel awards ceremony as some of the capital’s attractions and travel companies were voted winners by readers of a leading travel title
Westfield Stratford City scooped the award for Best Shopping Centre for the second consecutive year, while Hard Rock Cafe was voted the winner of new category Best Group Dining Experience.
West End musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory won the accolade of Best Theatre Production, and The Houses of Parliament saw off competition from three finalists to scoop the award for Best Guided Tour. Group Line was awarded Best Travel and Leisure Website, and Encore Tickets collected the award for Best Ticketing Agency.
Julie Chappell, director of VisitLondon.com, said: “It’s a great accolade for some of London’s top tourist attractions and travel companies to be recognised in these awards. London offers a visitor experience which few other cities can match. It has fascinating museums, the best theatre scene in the world, more green space than any other European city, an exciting history, amazing shopping, over 60 Michelin-starred restaurants, and much else besides.”
Having seen off competition from three finalists including Bullring Birmingham, intu Trafford Centre, Manchester and Westfield London, the east London shopping centre was voted the best by readers of Group Leisure Magazine.
Myf Ryan, marketing director for UK Europe, Westfield, commented: “We are delighted to have won Best Shopping Centre for Westfield Stratford City and have Westfield London as a runner-up. We continue to understand the varying needs of group visits to enhance our offer, ultimately providing a memorable experience.”
Ian Lacey, marketing travel trade manager at the Houses of Parliament, said: “We are delighted to have won the Best Guided Tour award. The whole team has worked extremely hard over the past few years to deliver a consistently excellent visitor experience and it is wonderful that these efforts have been recognised.”
The Group Leisure Awards dinner and ceremony was attended by some of the top names in the travel industry. Special guest comedian and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin entertained over 300 guests before presenting the awards alongside Group Leisure magazine publisher Rob Yandell.
“It’s fantastic that so many London attractions and travel companies have been recognised by our readers. A win at the Group Leisure Awards represents a personal recommendation from group travel organisers”, commented Rob Yandell.
Notes to Editors
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
● The Group Leisure Awards are voted for by readers of Group Leisure, the UK’s number one monthly magazine for group travel organisers. Votes are also cast at the groupleisure.com website. The current edition of the magazine is always available at www.groupleisure.com/emag in addition to its postal copies.
● The awards were first established in 1997.
● The readers of Group Leisure include group organisers for major sports and social clubs, retired groups, National Trust groups, PROBUS groups, Women’s Institutes, U3A groups, as well as groups of friends, family and like-minded people, etc.
Further information and images are available on request. Contact the press team on 0870-761 3293 on 25th September. After this date telephone 01908-613323 or you can e-mail editorial@groupleisure.com or contact Phil Nettleton at London Partners. pnettleton@londonandpartners.com
Download photos from the winner’s gallery here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sn3iraa993hquaw/AAAnNfuHCiGycgAhS0zQ6Sufa?dl=0
