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Cornwall in Focus News

Cornwall: Top UK Destination

Published 30 May 11 21:04

Cornwall was named as the Top UK Holiday Destination in the British Travel Awards for the Second Consecutive Year.

Cornwall attracted the lion's share of the public vote outshining neighbour, Devon, which along with Cumbria in the Lake District, was announced as a runner-up. This marked an impressive double award win for Cornwall as St Ives was also named 'Best UK Seaside Town'.

St Ives was crowned the 'Best Seaside Holiday Destination' in the Coast Awards 2011 also retaining the coveted title for a second year.

If this accolade wasn't enough to put Cornwall on the map, the county secured two more category top spots at the Coast Awards.

The Scarlet in Mawgan Porth was awarded 'Best Boutique Hotel by the Sea' beating Cornish runner up The Rosevine, near Portscatho and The Reading Room in Margate, Kent.

In addition, Fifteen Cornwall in Watergate Bay was awarded 'Best Seaside Restaurant' narrowly beating Eddie Gilbert's in Ramsgate, Kent and Urban Reef in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Tourism makes up a huge part of the Cornish economy, the major employer and accounting for some 25% of the whole. Statistics show that almost five million people visit us every year, with an annual spend of over £1.6bn in 2007.

Main attractions include the hundreds of Cornish beaches and the spectacular coastline of almost 300 miles. The main visitor attraction was once again the Eden Project, with almost 40% of visitors visiting the biomes during their stay.

The title is surely a recognition of all the effort that has been put in by tourism providers, large and small, over the last year or so.

Steve Kessell, of VisitCornwall, said: "Being awarded the title of Best UK Holiday Destination is a fantastic honour for Cornwall... The fact that it is based on public opinion makes it even more significant as it comes from those people that count, those that vote with their feet."

Tim Jones, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Business Council, added: "The award very much reflects the incredible amount of hard work that Cornwall has done to improve tourist offerings and to reinvent the way that tourism can be profitable in a recession."

"Devon and Cornwall have as much to offer international visitors as London..." stated Tourism Minister John Penrose recently. He identified the two regions as 'super destinations' with a "breadth, depth and richness of experience...". He suggested that the Westcountry 'needs to work wiser not necessarily harder' to capture more tourists.

It is reported that only 21% of Britons holiday at home - this contrasts sharply with an average of 28% of Europeans holidaying at home on the continent.

Returning to Cornwall and Devon, the Minister stated that "Collectively, there is absolutely masses to do" and that "you could spend a completely action-packed week here and only scratch the surface...". Worth over £2 billion a year, the Minister is backing up his words with the fact that he is 'staycationing' in Cornwall this year, citing the area's "beautiful, beautiful scenery".

The wonderful Easter weather has given a great boost to the Tourism industry and has been a bonus to those regular visitors to the area like PM David Cameron and his family.