The East of England Tourism Awards 2021 are open for entries now, and the Camping, Glamping, Holiday Park and Self Catering Accommodation of the Year award recognises local businesses providing memorable guest experiences and demonstrating excellence within the self-catering accommodation sector.

This includes cottages, houses, historic properties, holiday boats, barn conversions, apartments, hostels and serviced apartments.

To be eligible for the award, businesses must make a direct contribution to the visitor economy with a significant proportion of business generated by people visiting from outside the local area.

The Hunts Post: Jolene Clark, regional sales director at cottages.comJolene Clark, regional sales director at cottages.com (Image: cottages.com)

“Self-catering accommodation providers make a huge contribution to the local tourism economy,” says Jolene Clark, regional sales director at cottages.com, sponsor of the award. “They have worked extremely hard over the last year to adapt their offer in line with Covid-safe practices and continue to do all they can to reassure customers that a trip to our region is a great option for a UK staycation.”

Entrants’ main offering must have been open for a period of at least eight weeks since the introduction of Covid-secure operating guidelines (after July 2020) and this period must be reflected within the application.

“Customers need to know they are going to be safe, as well as having a good time. Experience is everything when it comes to the measure of a good stay, so attention to detail is also an important factor.”

Businesses or agencies with multiple properties across different locations are not eligible to apply to this category and those that serve food must have a minimum food hygiene rating of three out of five.

“We want people to be proud of the service and standards they offer,” says Jolene. “Self-catering owners are a great advert for the best the region has to offer and they deserve to be recognised for their contribution.

“Customers are faced with so much choice these days. Awards are a way of reassuring guests that they can trust you as a provider,” Jolene adds. “There’s no doubt customers look for these types of third-party endorsements when making choices about where to spend their money, and an East of England Tourism Award is the benchmark of quality for holiday businesses in our area.”

The East of England Tourism Awards 2021 is open to tourism businesses operating across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Entries close at midnight on Sunday, October 3. Shortlisted finalists will go through a judging process, which may include a site visit, before being announced on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

A glittering black-tie event will then take place at Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, on Thursday, February 24, 2022.

Enter the East of England Tourism Awards now at www.tourismawards.co.uk

MEET THE SPONSOR

Tourism website cottages.com is one of the UK’s leading providers of holiday properties and luxury homes and offers more than 19,000 places to stay across the UK.

From coastal retreats to country castles, the brand is home to a number of unique and inspiring collections and helps more than 1.45 million guests and more than 163,000 pets find their perfect break every year. 

cottages.com is part of Awaze – one of Europe’s leading managed vacation rentals and holiday resorts business.