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The Isles of Scilly scooped three gongs at last week’s dazzling Cornwall Tourism Awards which, for the second year running, took place in the stunning Truro Cathedral.

Tanglewood Kitchen won Gold in the Tourism Innovation of the Year category for its Tanglewood Table – an intimate dining experience for eight people set in the Old Sorting Office on St Mary’s – and Longstone Lodge & Café also won Gold in the New Tourism Business of the Year for its new style hostel accommodation and café. Karma St. Martin’s took a Bronze Award in the hotly-contested Small Hotel of the Year category.

This year, 77 awards were given out across 27 different categories – with standards once again taking a step up. The awards celebration was enhanced by a hilarious presentation from Cornish comedian Johnny Cowling who, together with host and BBC presenter Daphne Skinnard, at one point had all 320 guests on their feet singing karaoke!

“It is a real joy to see Scilly’s business excel at the Cornwall Tourism Awards – the standards are high, and getting higher all the time, and our leading businesses on the islands have to compete very hard to deliver a fantastic tourist offering,” says Nick Bond, Executive Director of the Islands’ Partnership (the Destination Management Organisation for the Isles of Scilly) which is instrumental in encouraging its member businesses to take part. “All our winners should be congratulated on their success, especially in a destination as competitive as Cornwall, and we hope that more of Scilly’s accommodation providers, attractions and experiences are encouraged to enter next year and beyond. It was a great night – not just for the islands – and a superb way to wrap up the 2019 season.”

The successful finalists from Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly will be fast-tracked into matching categories in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards in February 2020 and possibly invited to represent Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the National VisitEngland Awards in April 2020.

The full list of finalists, as well as the film taken on the night can be found on the Cornwall Tourism Awards website. https://www.cornwalltourismawards.org.uk/