Attracting a record number of overseas visitors to Bristol last year has earned the city’s destination management organisation a national tourism excellence award.
Destination Bristol, which promotes the city region as a world-class place to stay through its Visit Bristol brand, landed Bronze in the International Distribution category at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2020 awards. 
According to recently released International Passenger Survey (IPS) data for 2019, Bristol chalked up a record 636,000 staying trips during the year, as well as its attracting the highest-ever number of holiday visits from key markets such as France, the US, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
This February, Bristol hosted the UKInbound Convention bringing travels buyers representing a huge range of international markets to the region for the first time in 20 years.
Destination Bristol head of tourism Kathryn Davis, pictured, said: “We have been developing our international reach over the last few years, ensuring that we are connected to the wider travel trade industry and working closely with partners to maximise opportunities for the region.
“This award is great recognition of the hard work that the team do to ensure local businesses are connected internationally to visitors who generally stay longer and spend more.” 
The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, now in their 31st year, celebrate and champion innovation, quality and best practice across the tourism industry. Winners are selected from hundreds of tourism businesses across England including hotels, self-catering accommodation, B&Bs, glamping operators, attractions, restaurants, pubs, museums and conference centres.
They were staged ‘virtually’ for the first time this year and were streamed live via the VisitEngland website and YouTube channel on Monday evening.
The International Distribution Award category recognises destination management organisations (DMOs) and Discover England Fund (DEF) projects committed to increasing the international distribution of the tourism products within their destination. Visit County Durham won Gold for its commitment to increasing the international distribution of local tourism products, driving inbound tourism and also benefitting the domestic market.
Other winners included Bath’s Roman Baths & Pump Room, (silver in the international tourism and large visitor attraction of the year categories), Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, near Bath, Silver – large hotel of the year), Herschel Museum of Astronomy, Bath (silver – small visitor attraction of the year), Wild Wookey at Wookey Hole Caves, near Wells (gold – experience of the year) and The Dining Room – Whatley Manor Hotel and Spa, near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, (gold – Taste of England award)
Destination Bristol is a joint venture between Bristol City Council and Business West and works with more than 600 major businesses and strategic partners to increase business competitiveness in the city centre and support employment and growth within the visitor economy while raising the Bristol’s profile on the world stage.
