Scottish Thistle Awards

Dear All,

I would like to ask you to encourage your partners and colleagues in Tourism businesses and across the Tourism Industry in Aberdeen City and Shire to enter the Scottish Thistle Awards 2012. The Scottish Thistle Awards are designed to discover and celebrate excellence and innovation by the Scottish tourism industry for our visitors. We encourage businesses to be proud of their achievements and to share ideas and best practice by taking part in the programme and entering our award categories.

There has been a great deal of press coverage with regards the changes to the 2012 Scottish Thistle Awards which was undertaken after extensive industry consultation; the greatest change is that we now have regional champions from across Scotland in each of the sections. The 4 Regions are Highlands & Islands, North East, South Central East and South Central West - the North East covers the area of Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Dundee City Council and Angus Council.

The winners of the Regional Awards will become the finalists for the Scottish Thistle Awards 2012 and this is a tremendous opportunity for Aberdeen City and Shire to really showcase the quality of our tourism product and industry across the categories being judged. The categories are designed to reward people as well as businesses; they are clearer, easier to engage with and focus on industry priorities. There will be 12 categories:

* First Data Merchant Solutions - Best Hotel Award
* Best Guest House or B&B Award
* Best Self-Serve Accommodation Award
* Best Café, Bar or Restaurant Award
* Strathmore Spring Water - Best Visitor Attraction Award
* Best Cultural Event Award
* Best Sporting Event Award
* Best Shopping Experience Award
* Scottish Natural Heritage - Best Nature Based Experience Award
* Training and Skills Development Award
* Historic Scotland - Tourism Entrepreneur Award
* VisitBritain - Marketing Campaign of the Year Award

Entries will close on 2nd March 2012 at 1700hrs. All information can be found on this link along with Case Studies, FAQ’s, and information on the benefits of taking part and of course ultimately being a Scottish Thistle Award winner. If you could send this information on to your partners, members and anyone else you feel relevant that would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for your help on this.

Best Regards

Shona

Shona Anderson, Regional Director - Aberdeen City and Shire, VisitScotland