THE Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards finalists have been revealed for 2022.
Luxury hotels, a city distillery, eco lodges, an organic dairy and a festival of lights are amongst the 39 businesses and individuals vying to scoop one of the prestigious awards and to take their place in the national Thistle Awards finalists’ line up.
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Maryculter House, Banchory Lodge and The Chester Hotel make up the starting line for the Best Hotel Experience over 20 rooms, with the duo of Douneside House by Tarland and Saplinbrae in Mintlaw contending the Best Hotel Experience under 20 rooms.
The Best Eatery Experience will go to either Kirkview Café in Aberdeen, Forest Farm Organic Dairy at Kinellar, Davron Hotel in Rosehearty or the Seafood Bothy by Stonehaven.
Royal Deeside is the location for all of the nominees in the Most hospitable B & B or guest house category with No45 and Gordon Guest House in Ballater joined by previous category winner Aboyne’s Lys Na Greyne.
The full shortlist of nominees is:
| Category | Category finalists |
| Best Bar or Pub | The Tippling House – Aberdeen, Titan Sky Bar – Meldrum House Hotel, Grape and Grain – Aberdeen |
| Best Hotel Experience (under 20 rooms) | Douneside House by Tarland, Saplinbrae Hotel Mintlaw |
| Best Hotel Experience (over 20 rooms) | Banchory Lodge, The Chester Hotel, Maryculter House |
| Food Tourism Award | Bothies and Bannocks – Aboyne, Signature Food Festival at The Chester Hotel, City of Aberdeen Distillery and Gin Tour |
| Best Eatery Experience | Kirkview Café – Aberdeen, Forest Farm – Kinellar, Davron Hotel – Rosehearty, Seafood Bothy – Stonehaven |
| Best Outdoor/Adventure Experience | Wild Discovery – Crathie, EGuide Scotland – Aboyne, Farm Stop- Portlethen |
| Best Self Catering Accommodation Experience | Down on the Farm – Rosehearty, Cairngorm Lodges and Bothies – Logie Coldstone, Wildflower Eco Lodges – Lonmay |
| Best Visitor Attraction Experience | MacDuff Marine Aquarium, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen Science Centre |
| Most Hospitable B&B or Guest House | Lys-na-Greyne – Aboyne, No. 45 – Ballater, Gordon Guest House – Ballater |
| Outstanding Cultural Event or Festival | Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Treeeline, Spectra – Aberdeen |
| Regional Ambassador | Allan Henderson – The McGintys Group , Stephen Gow, – The Chester Hotel, David Griffiths – Aberdam |
| Tourism and Hospitality Hero | Alex Robertson – ACC , Beata Winiearska – Forest Farm, Marta Skowron – TECA |
| Working Together for Tourism | Cairngorm Lodges – Logie Coldstone, Dee Tour – Royal Deeside, Wild Discovery – Crathie |
The awards return after an enforced two-year break during which tourism and hospitality businesses were amongst the hardest hit of all business sectors.
Awards chairman Stephen Gow said: “It’s extremely uplifting that despite tourism businesses facing significant challenges with post covid recovery, the 2022 awards have seen one of their most successful years in terms of number of entries.”
“The shortlist of nominees shows the diverse richness of our local tourism product and it’s great to see businesses of all sizes entering the awards and reaching the finals. Judging was inspiring and stimulating as the 2022 crop of entrants gave the judges shortlisting challenges due to the high quality.”
“There has been a focus on sustainability in the 2022 awards process and we the finalists show a range of companies with outstanding green credentials in the line up from an organic diary making ice cream from their own herd of cows to a wildlife watching company with conservation at its core and carbon neutral eco bothies. Responsible tourism on a collaborative basis is vital for rebuilding and growing the value of tourism for our area; making places better to live in and visit and our communities thrive.”
The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony and gala dinner taking place at The Chester Hotel in Aberdeen on 11 November 2022. All Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards winners will go forward as finalists representing the area in the national Thistle Awards.
More information can be found at www.acsta.co.uk.
