Thinking of entering the Visit York Tourism Awards? Your application is your opportunity to show the judges what makes your business special, demonstrate the impact of your work and celebrate what you and your team have achieved.
To help you put together the strongest possible entry, we've gathered some of the key advice shared during our Visit York Tourism Awards application workshop.
Top tips for your application
Keep these points in mind as you work through your entry.
Show what makes you different:
Focus on what sets your business apart and makes the visitor experience memorable.
Back up your claims:
Use reviews, figures, feedback and results to demonstrate what you have achieved.
Answer the question:
Read each question carefully and make sure your response addresses it directly.
Explain the impact:
Tell judges what you did, why you did it and what difference it made.
Be specific:
Strong examples and measurable results are more powerful than general statements.
Don't hide the challenges:
Show what you learned when something didn't work and how you adapted.
Look to the future:
Be clear about your next priorities, targets and plans for improvement.
Make it easy to read:
Use short paragraphs, bullet points and clear sections rather than large blocks of text.
Highlight your best evidence:
Point judges directly towards particularly strong reviews, results, screenshots or examples.
Start early:
Give yourself plenty of time to draft, review and strengthen your application.
Tailor each entry:
If entering more than one category, adapt your answers to suit each award.
Show how you collaborate:
Highlight relevant partnerships, local suppliers and your contribution to York's visitor economy.
Celebrate your team:
Include examples of excellent service, staff achievements, training and customer praise.
Consider other categories:
You may have a strong story to tell around sustainability, accessibility or inclusion too.
Don't undersell yourself:
If you're making meaningful progress, tell the judges about it. You don't need to be perfect.
Check your links:
Make sure every link works and only direct judges to active, up-to-date content.
Draft before you submit:
Write your answers separately first, then edit them down to fit the word counts.
Get a second opinion:
Ask someone else to read your application and identify anything unclear or missing.
Proofread:
Check your wording, facts, figures and links carefully before pressing submit.
What will help your application shine?
Judges want to understand the story behind your business, not simply read a list of everything you've done.
Help them quickly see what makes you special, how you're improving and the difference your work is making.
Turn a statement into a story
One of the easiest ways to strengthen an application is to go beyond describing what you did. Explain why you did it and what happened next.
"We improved our customer service."
This tells the judges what happened, but gives them little evidence or context.
"Following guest feedback, we introduced new pre-arrival information, helping improve the experience before visitors even reached us."
Add a measurable result or customer feedback and the example becomes even more powerful.
"Take time to fill out the form. Start it a few weeks before, don't leave it to the last minute, then put it away and reflect on what you've written."
Before you press submit...
Give your application one final check.
- Have you answered every question directly?
- Have you explained what makes your business different?
- Have you included evidence for your strongest claims?
- Have you shown the impact of your work?
- Are your future plans clear and specific?
- Have you stayed within the word counts?
- Do all website and social links work?
- Has somebody else read your application?
- Have you checked the eligibility criteria?
- Have you proofread everything one final time?
Ready to enter?
The Visit York Tourism Awards celebrate the very best of York's tourism, hospitality and visitor economy.
Take a look at the available categories, start gathering your strongest evidence and give yourself plenty of time to put your entry together.