Conference Leeds, the super convention bureau for Leeds and West Yorkshire is celebrating after 4 of its venues scooped awards in the Yorkshire Insider Business Tourism Awards which took place at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on the 12th March.

Conference Leeds members who won awards include:

The Great Victoria Hotel, Bradford - Small venue of the year

Jim Vincent, Royal Armouries - Personality of the Year

Thorpe Park Hotel and Spa - Team of the Year

Sno!Zone - Unique Venue of the Year

Peter Baber, editor of Yorkshire Business Insider had high praise for all the winners, including Sno!Zone and Jim Vincent saying:

“Judges were particularly impressed with the idea of Sno!zone offering clients the opportunity to camp out overnight on the ski slopes – something you really wouldn’t expect in Yorkshire. And by opening up Savile’s Hall, the judges felt Jim had finally provided what Leeds has been desperately in need of – a venue that can seat more than 1,000 people. By doing so, he has also dramatically increased the possibilities for the Yorkshire business tourism industry as a whole – which is surely what these awards are all about.”

About the awards: Peter Baber, editor of Yorkshire Business Insider, said:

“This was the first time we have run any awards for business tourism in this region, and the record number of entries we had for an inaugural event – 106 - proves the business tourism industry in Yorkshire is alive and kicking. It has really given us confidence to grow this event next year.”

Nicola Lockwood, head of Conference Leeds said:
“This was a fantastic evening, all the entries clearly showed how Leeds has grown in appeal to business guests and why it now ranks as one of the UK’s top 5 business visitor destinations.”

Conference Leeds is supported by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency.

ENDS
EDITORS NOTES:
Nicola Lockwood is available for interview on 0113 220 6356,
email: nicola.lockwood@conference-leeds.com
About Conference Leeds

Conference Leeds is the organisation responsible for promoting meetings and events across Leeds and West Yorkshire. The recently restructured Conference Leeds is now a “super convention bureau” representing almost 250 venues across the area, responsible for marketing the West Yorkshire districts of Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale.

Conference Leeds is a Leeds City Council organisation with funding from Yorkshire Forward, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale Councils.

Conference Leeds can offer a free venue finding service for anyone wanting to host an event in Leeds and West Yorkshire and markets the area through a series of initiatives.
Business tourism is worth over £450million a year in direct expenditure to the Yorkshire economy

This is the inaugural year for the awards which have been launched in recognition of Yorkshire’s business tourism industry which has flourished in recent years due to a host of new facilities and the massive growth in hotel stock across the Leeds area.

The business tourism industry currently represents 23 per cent of the region's gross domestic tourism and 29 per cent of inbound tourism but until now, the hospitality sector has not had a platform from which to celebrate and promote its services and successes to its main target market, the region's business and corporate community.

About Yorkshire Forward
Conference Leeds is supported by Yorkshire Forward. Yorkshire Forward is the regional development agency for Yorkshire and the Humber, it exists to represent and help generate sustainable business for the region’s tourism industry, an industry worth £4.1billion to the region annually and employing over 165,000 people, making it one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the region. Yorkshire’s goal, as identified in Bold Vision, Bright Future - The Tourism Marketing Strategy for Yorkshire and Humber 2006 - 2010, is to achieve and increase in the value of tourism earnings to the region by 5% per annum to £5.9bn by 2010.