THE team at Moors Valley Country Park and Forest near Ringwood is celebrating award success.
It came away with silver in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year at the South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2021/22.
It was also a day to celebrate for Christine Hughes who received an Unsung Hero Award in recognition of her hard work and dedication at the park.
The result of the regional competition was announced at a gala presentation ceremony held at Exeter’s Sandy Park Stadium on April 7 in front of an audience of 300 of the region’s leading tourism business people.
Coral Atkinson, the market and communications ranger at Moors Valley said:“Being awarded Silver in the Large Visitor Attraction of the year category is a huge honour and a testament to the hard work of the Moors Valley team.
"The park is a partnership between Dorset Council and Forestry England and is also home to a number of businesses that operate on the site serving almost a million visitors each year. The entire team should be immensely proud of this achievement.
“I’m especially pleased to congratulate Christine Hughes on her Unsung Hero award. I’m delighted that her dedication and commitment to keeping our visitors and staff safe throughout the pandemic and beyond has been recognised this way.”
The awards saw 476 entries from the region including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bath, Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
The awards, which themselves won a national accolade in 2021, achieving the ‘Outstanding’ accolade in the Awards Trust Mark scheme, are the culmination of 11 months of evidence gathering, online entry, judging and county awards. In the Large Visitor Attraction category Moors Valley was up against The Minack Theatre in Cornwall, Dorset Museum and Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Somerset.
Moors Valley’s success follows on from it being awarded gold in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year in the Dorset Tourism Awards.
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