VisitEngland has announced that this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence will be held at Aerospace Bristol, under the wings of Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the supersonic passenger jet, on 3 June.
*All details correct at time of publish (13 April 2026)
Finalists from 21 local competitions will win Gold, Silver or Bronze at VisitEngland’s 36th annual awards across 16 core categories.
Award categories range from ‘Small Hotel of the Year’ to ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ and from the ‘Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award’ to ‘New Tourism Business of the Year’.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:
“We are delighted that this year’s ceremony is in Bristol, home of the iconic Concorde Alpha Foxtrot jet, and a destination globally renowned for its innovation and artistic creativity.
“The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence recognise the very best of tourism in England, showcasing our industry’s outstanding welcome, dedicated staff and the world-class experiences on offer. I am especially pleased that we have had a record number of entries to our local competitions this year.”
Kathryn Davis, CEO of Visit West, said:
“We are thrilled that the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence are coming to the Bristol region for the first time. We can’t wait to welcome the best of England’s tourism offer for a night of celebration under the wings of Concord,e highlighting excellence and innovation in the industry.”
There were 1847 applications from the 21 aligned local competitions, with the winners then automatically entered into the national awards.
In the lead up to the awards, VisitEngland will announce the three finalists for each category who will go on to gain Gold, Silver or Bronze at the event in June.
In addition to the 16 core categories, special awards are also being presented, including the ‘Travel Content Award’ and the ‘Tourism Superstar Award’.
VisitEngland is inviting everyone to be a part of the celebratio,n with tickets on sale for the event and an early bird rate for the first 100 people to book their seat at the table. The Family Holiday Charity is the chosen charity for this year’s event.
Tourism is one of England’s largest, most valuable industries - supporting hundreds of thousands of small-to-medium sized businesses, more than two million jobs and worth £127 billion to the economy in England.
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