Tourism businesses throughout the Highlands and Islands are being reminded that there is just a week to the entry deadline for the Scottish Thistle Awards, the biggest tourism awards of the year.

Entries will be accepted until midnight on Thursday (June 5) so if you haven’t submitted your entry yet, time is of the essence.

The awards, which are organised by national tourism organisation VisitScotland and co-sponsored by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, honour tourism businesses that excel through quality and innovation and are widely recognised as one of the top accolades in the industry.  Two new categories have been introduced this year: the Young Tourism Entrepreneur Award, supported by The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) and The Moffat Charitable Trust, and the award for Collaboration, sponsored by The Glasgow:Edinburgh Collaboration.

The Young Tourism Entrepreneur Award will recognise the vital contribution that young people are making to the tourism industry in Scotland. Young people aged 18-30 who have recently started up or are growing a business that enhances visitors’ experience of Scotland will be eligible to enter.

The collaboration award will acknowledge projects that include two or more tourism-related organisations across local authority boundaries and that can illustrate how working together they can increase visitor numbers and contribute to the industry ambition to increase tourism revenues by 50% by 2015.

VisitScotland’s Chief Executive Philip Riddle said: “The Thistle Awards celebrate the best tourism businesses in Scotland. These are the businesses that are crucial for our country as we work together to achieve tourism growth. Time is running out for entrants for an award this year and I would urge as many businesses as possible to get involved.”

This year, all applications are to be entered online, making it easier and more environmentally friendly for businesses. There are 11 categories and businesses can enter as many as applicable to their individual achievements.

Visitors to www.visitscotland.com and www.visitscotland.com/perfectdays are also able to nominate businesses that they think should enter the awards for coming first at putting visitors first or for providing visitors to Scotland with their perfect day.

The full list of categories for the 2008 Scottish Thistle Awards are as follows:

Business Tourism (sponsor VisitScotland)
Open to businesses in the conference, meetings or incentive sectors, including destinations, venues, incentive houses and professional conference organisers, event or destination management companies and support service providers. Entrants should be able to demonstrate success through an innovative and specific marketing initiative, the organisation or promotion of an event, or product development.
 
Collaboration  (sponsor Collaborating to compete Glasgow:Edinburgh)
Open to any two or more tourism-related businesses, which cross local authority boundaries and are private sector led that can demonstrate success through collaboration.  

Customer Care (sponsor VisitScotland. Split into three award categories: Activities and attractions; accommodation; serviced accommodation)
Open to all accommodation, activities and attraction providers participating in VisitScotland's Quality Assurance schemes. This category seeks to reward businesses that exceed customer expectations, making a stay or visit more memorable.
 
Events and Festivals (sponsor EventScotland. Split into two award categories:International; Regional)
Open to sporting and cultural events and festivals that take place on a local, regional or international level. Entries are invited from both new and existing events that have excelled in their objectives and can show clear results.

Innovation (sponsor Scottish Enterprise)
Open to businesses, partnerships or collaborative groups who can demonstrate they have successfully delivered a genuinely innovative tourism project that has made a difference.
 
Marketing Initiative (sponsor VisitBritain)
Open to businesses that have implemented a successful and creative marketing campaign. For campaigns to be eligible, they must have been completed within the past 12 months, and full evaluation results must be available at the time of entry. Entrants must also provide information on budget and return on investment.

Operator Programme of the Year (sponsor Historic Scotland)
Open to UK and internationally-based inbound operators. This award recognises operators who are active in encouraging visitors to Scotland, whether in groups or as individuals, through the development and promotion of new and highly distinctive programmes.
 
People Development (sponsor HIE. Split into two award categories: Small businesses less than 20 full-time staff;
Large businesses with 20 or more full-time staff)
Open to all tourism and hospitality businesses in Scotland who can demonstrate they have achieved success by developing their people. In short, businesses that put their people first.
 
PR Excellence (sponsor BAA Scotland)
Open to in-house PR teams or agencies representing a tourism business that have implemented a successful and creative PR campaign aimed at a consumer audience. For the campaign to be eligible, it must have been completed within the past 12 months and full evaluation results must be available at the time of entry. Entrants must also provide a full budget breakdown.

Sustainable Tourism (sponsor SNH)
Open to any businesses that can demonstrate excellence and leadership in sustainable tourism. Businesses must show how their commitment to Scotland's environment and people guide their operations, growth and ambitions.   

Young Tourism Entrepreneur (sponsor PSYBT)
Open to anyone aged from 18 to 30 who has recently started up or is building a business that enhances the visitor experience in Scotland. 

The overall winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony and dinner at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Friday 24th October.

For further information and to enter the awards, go to the Scottish Thistle Awards website, call the awards hotline on 0131 472 2228 or email info@scottishthistleawards.co.uk