Lowry Hotel and IWMN up for big awards

Imperial War Museum North has been named as one of the top large visitor attractions in the country whilst, ten minutes down the road, The Lowry Hotel is down to the final three in the Large Hotel of the Year category as part of the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence. Organised annually by Visit England, the awards recognise the best of the country’s tourism businesses and professionals.

The museum stands to win either a gold or silver prize in the large visitor attraction category of the awards. The recognition comes after they received one of the highest mystery shop scores ever at the North West Tourism awards last year.

Jim Forrester, director at Imperial War Museum North, said: “By combining interactive activities with our Big Picture AV shows and major free exhibitions like the current Shaped by War: Photographs by Don McCullin, we believe we offer a powerful and memorable experience to all our visitors, whatever their age or background. We are absolutely delighted that, through this prestigious award, our museum has been recognised as one of England’s very best large visitor attractions.”

The Lowry Hotel, Thurlstone Hotel in South Devon and South Lodge Hotel in West Sussex all managed to beat hundreds of other entries to secure their spots in this year’s final. The winner will be announced at the national awards ceremony in Brighton on 23 April 2010.

General Manager of The Lowry Hotel, Peter Kienast, said: “We are delighted to have reached the final of the Excellence in England Tourism Awards. It’s a wonderful reward for the work the whole team of The Lowry Hotel plays a part in. We are now looking forward to the final.”

Since opening in 2001 The Lowry Hotel and its staff have been awarded 47 awards and accolades.