Some of the 2023 Group Leisure & Travel Awards winners have been showing off their shiny new trophies across the UK, including on a cruise ship, inside a football stadium and even an acceptance speech from Basil Fawlty!
You can use the arrows to the right and left of the image gallery above to scroll through the pictures sent to us so far, and expand the gallery by clicking the ‘x’ top left.
Lots of winners and finalists reacted on social media during and after the annual Group Leisure & Travel Awards Ceremony, and since the trophies have made their way back to their new homes, we’ve loved seeing how the class of 2023 have been celebrating.
This year’s Group Leisure & Travel Awards once again rewarded the best of the best across group travel culminating in the awards ceremony on Wednesday 4th October at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Milton Keynes.
Hosted by ventriloquist and America’s Got Talent winner Paul Zerdin, and GLT publisher Rob Yandell, all the winners were announced by the 2023 Awards Partners.
Among the winners pictured in the video above were Hever Castle, which picked up the Best Christmas Experience Award for a second year running, the National Memorial Arboretum which topped the Best UK Attraction category again and the Isle of Wight which won Best UK Destination; the team even took their trophy on a tour of the island aftterwards!
Mark Ellis, National Memorial Arboretum lead, said: “Our whole team works incredibly hard to deliver a world-class visitor experience, often going the extra mile to make groups feel welcome at the Arboretum.
“Every single piece of positive feedback we receive from our clients is appreciated by the team and winning the Group Leisure & Travel Award for Best UK Attraction for the third year running is yet another terrific endorsement of their collective efforts.”
There were plenty of first-time winners too such as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that was crowned Best Guided Tour and Faulty Towers The Dining Experience that won big in the Best Group Dining Experience category.
Manuel and Basil sent in this hilarious acceptance speech from Faulty Towers The Dining Experience:
Ambassador Cruise Line, which picked up the Best Cruise Line Award, was another first-time winner. Business development manager Alan Rennie, said: “It means so much to everyone at Ambassador Cruise Line to be recognised with such an award.
“We pride ourselves on delivering the best possible service for group bookings and it was an amazing feeling to see that hard work and dedicated acknowledged by the readers of Group Leisure & Travel.”
Chadia Self, VA coordinator at Tottenham Hotspur, said: “This recognition is a huge accomplishment and highlights our commitment to provide truly unique and memorable stadium experiences.
“It is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and passion of our entire team, as well as the incredible support of our fans and visitors. We are incredibly grateful and can’t wait to provide many more fantastic experiences to come.”
Individual prizes were also given out to Daniel Pocock from Potters Resorts who won The Excellence Award, as well as Mary Gotts of GOTT 2 TRAVEL who won the prestigious Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award®.
Daniel Pocock said: “It’s hard to put into words just how shocked and happy I am being this year’s winner of The Excellence Award.
“To be acknowledged is a huge achievement and I can’t thank everybody enough for the nominations. Working within the group travel industry is like no other industry out there, the connections and friendships I’ve built over the years means so much to me and to know that many of them took the time to vote for me really does mean a lot.”
For everything you need to know about the awards, including the full results, news and updates, visit groupleisureandtravel.com/awards.
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