The Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards has announced its shortlist to recognise excellence across the city region’s tourism and hospitality industry. Each year the judging panel sifts through the many applications to narrow down the very best in the business. All those shortlisted will now go forward to the final judging panel ahead of the glittering awards ceremony on 16 May 2019. The panel will have the difficult task of deciding who will be crowned winners in their respective categories at the black-tie event taking place at Liverpool Cathedral. There are 17 award categories this year which cover the whole industry, and include Hotel of the Year, Entertainment Venue of the Year and Best Newcomer. The previously named ‘Taste’ award has been split into Restaurant of the Year and Café of the Year. Peter Sandman, Head of Visitor Economy for the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “To see so many entries come in not only shows how prestigious these awards are but also the amount of healthy competition we have across the city region – which only continues to push tourism standards up. This is confirmed through the latest figures, which show the local visitor economy is now worth over £4.5bn annually and supports over 53,500 jobs. “Holding the event in such a stunning venue will create a very special atmosphere and make this year’s awards unmissable.” Sponsors this year already include: ACC Liverpool, Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Marketing Liverpool, Merseyrail, NatWest, Ticket Quarter, Wild Thang and Wirral Chamber of Commerce. Sponsorship opportunities are still available, please call Cathryn O’Grady on 07918 174176 or email cath@eventfulonline.com for more details. Tickets for the ceremony are now available from Ticket Quarter – click here for details. Shortlist in full Hotel of the Year Aloft Hotel Liverpool Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa Hope Street Hotel Hotel Indigo Liverpool Mere Brook House Pullman Liverpool The Shankly Hotel Thornton Hall Hotel Titanic Hotel Liverpool Serviced Apartment of the Year Base Serviced Apartments Epic Hotels & Serviced Apartments Staybridge Suites Liverpool Staycity Aparthotels Small Visitor Attraction of the Year Catalyst Science Discovery Centre & Museum Darkstar Laser Arena For All Liverpool’s Liver Birds Mersey Ferries Mersey Tunnel Tours Port Sunlight Village Trust Shore Cottage Studio Large Visitor Attraction of the Year FACT Knowsley Safari Liverpool Cathedral McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Cheshire Oaks Restaurant of the Year Delifonseca Dockside Fazenda Liverpool London Carriage Works Lunyalita NYL Restaurant & Cocktail Bar The Art School Restaurant The Lawns at Thornton Hall Wheeler’s of St. James’s Liverpool Café/Bistro of the Year Benty Farm Tearooms Café Tabac Caffe Cream of New Brighton Cuthberts Bakery Moose Coffee World Museum Cafe Bar of the Year Alma de Cuba NYL Restaurant & Cocktail Bar The Art School Cellars The Brink The Club House Liverpool Large Event of the Year China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors Liverpool Biennial 2018 Liverpool’s Dream – Giant Spectacular Lost Castles Small Event of the Year Aurora Bordeaux Wine Festival BTR Liverpool Half Marathon St George’s Hall Minton Floor Tile Reveal Tourism Experience of the Year China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors City Explorer Liverpool Ghetto Golf Mersey Ferry and Open Top Bus Tour Excellence in Business Tourism Conference Centre at LACE FACT Hilton Hotel Liverpool Hosted by National Museums Liverpool Titanic Hotel Liverpool Entertainment Venue of the Year Liverpool Empire Theatre Liverpool Philharmonic Hall & Music Room Sefton Park Palm House St Helens Theatre Royal Independent Tourism Business of the Year Benty Farm Tearooms Cuthberts Bakery Darkstar Laser Arena LLS Your Tour Mere Brook House Moose Coffee Otterspool Adventure Port Sunlight Village Trust Best Newcomer to the Visitor Economy Hinterlands Lunyalita Punch Tarmeys Sleep Eat Love The Florist Tourism Star of the Year Matt Cooke, Hope Street Hotel Kate Green, Liverpool Cruise Terminal Kris Mochrie, Signature Living Damien Daly, Titanic Hotel Liverpool Tourism Young Person of the Year Kate Ainslie, Hilton Hotel Liverpool Kelsey Reynolds, NYL Restaurant & Cocktail Bar Paul Dixon, Liverpool Film Office Millie Kehoe, Liverpool Tourist Information Centre