Bill makes a bee-line for Blackburn Cathedral

The judging is over and the finalists have just two weeks to wait until they find out if they have won a prestigious Lancashire Tourism Award, at the county’s foremost celebration of tourism excellence.  This year the Lancashire Tourism Awards  returns to Blackburn Cathedral, the Cathedral of Lancashire, on Thursday 10 November and today, organisers Marketing Lancashire announced that the ceremony will be hosted by award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Bill Turnbull.

Bill is best known for co-hosting the BBC Breakfast programme for 15 years, as well as for his appearances on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and adventures in bee-keeping!  Earlier this year he joined Classic FM, the UK’s most popular classical music station, to present the weekend mid-morning shows and won his own award, for Best News Presenter, at the Television and Radio Industries Club Awards 2016.

Ruth Connor, Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire said “It’s going to be a fantastic celebration of Lancashire’s tourism businesses and the wonderful people who make the industry so successful. We’re planning an event that will showcase the very best of Lancashire tourism and we’re delighted to have Bill Turnbull, one of the country’s best-loved broadcasters hosting the ceremony to join with us, as we applaud and reward this year’s finalists and winners. 

“The judges certainly had a tough task this year.  The enthusiasm and planning that went into the finalists’ interviews, demonstrates what winning a Lancashire Tourism Award means to so many of our colleagues.”

“Together, we attract 64 million visitors to Lancashire, who boost the local economy by £3.8billion.  Each and every finalist can be proud of the contribution they make to this important sector for Lancashire and we congratulate them wholeheartedly on their achievement.”

Tickets are now available for businesses and industry partners from lancashiretourismawards.com

Businesses supporting this year’s awards include: Headline Sponsor UCLan, BBC Radio Lancashire, Blackburn College, Blackburn Rovers Football Club, Brilliant Trees Media, Café Northcote, Huddle Media, Lancashire Business View, Lancashire Evening Post, Links Signs and Graphics, Northcote at the Rovers, Northern Print Distribution, Quality In Tourism and Total Foodservice