THE shortlist has been announced for this year's Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards.

Aiming to recognise 'excellence' across the city region's tourism and hospitality industry, the awards will take place at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral on May 16, 2019.

This year there are 17 categories covering the whole industry including Hotel of the Year, Entertainment Venue of the Year and Best Newcomer.

The 'Taste' category has now been split into Restaurant of the Year and Cafe of the Year.

Head of visitor economy for the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, Peter Sandman told the Globe: "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.”

This year's award see's Wirral businesses such as Thornton Hall Hotel, Mere Brook House, Benty Farm Tearooms and Caffe Cream all shortlisted alongside the Port Sunlight Village Trust.

Full award shortlist:

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

Sponsors of this year's event include; Wirral Chamber of Commerce, ACC Liverpool, Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Marketing Liverpool, Merseyrail, NatWest, Ticket Quarter and Wild Thang.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available, for more information call Cathryn O’Grady on 07918 174176 or email cath@eventfulonline.com.

To buy tickets for the event visit https://www.ticketquarter.co.uk/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=tourism-awards&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=