The search is on for Swansea Bay’s best hotel, restaurant and live music venue.
Entries will open on July 1 for the 2019 Swansea Bay Tourism Awards, which are jointly organised by Swansea Council and Tourism Swansea Bay.
Businesses can choose from categories including best hotel, best attraction, best dog-friendly tourism business and best young tourism ambassador.
A special award for outstanding services to tourism will help celebrate Swansea’s 50th anniversary as a city.
Winners of some categories may be eligible for automatic entry into the 2020 National Tourism Awards.
With entries due by Sunday, September 8, the winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony in the Brangwyn Hall on Thursday, November 14.
This event will bring together tourism and hospitality’s key players, influencers and newcomers to celebrate and commend excellence in the sector. Host will be actor and broadcaster Kev Johns MBE.
Robert Francis-Davies, the council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “4.8m people visited Swansea Bay last year bringing nearly £448m into the local economy. This helped support over 5,700 jobs.
“Our tourism businesses clearly make a significant contribution to the economy so they thoroughly deserve to be recognised.
“We continuously work in close partnership with organisations like Tourism Swansea Bay to ensure we keep on exceeding the demands and aspirations of visitors who come here. Tourism investment means we can also ensure great facilities for our residents and local communities.
“The Swansea Bay Tourism Awards are a great opportunity to celebrate our very special 50th anniversary as a city.”
Stephen Crocker, chairman of Tourism Swansea Bay, said: “Our strong partnership with the council goes back a long way and has led to the joint organisation of the Swansea Bay Tourism Awards for a number of years.
“The awards are open to tourism businesses across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.
“It’s important that businesses and organisations who go the extra mile are recognised for their excellence.”
At the previous awards, in 2017, more than 500 people attended the prize night.
This year’s awards are made up of 19 categories and businesses can enter or be nominated in more than one category.
Businesses are encouraged to enter themselves or to also encourage customers to nominate them through the awards website.
The opportunity to sponsor the awards is still open, so any interested businesses are asked to phone Swansea Council’s tourism team on 01792 635781.
Head to www.swanseabaytourismawards.co.uk for more information.