The Cumberland building society has been announced as sponsor for a new category in the Scottish Thistle Awards.
The Scottish Thistle Awards help shine the spotlight on individuals and businesses going above and beyond to create a destination and visitor experience worth talking about within the Scottish tourism industry.
Led by Scotland’s national tourism organisation, VisitScotland, and supported by a panel of industry representatives, the Scottish Thistle Awards bring together the best of the tourism industry to receive recognition from the leaders in their field.
For the first time this year, a new Inclusive Tourism award has been introduced, sponsored by The Cumberland. The award celebrates businesses and destinations offering services to be enjoyed by everyone.
The award is aimed at tourism businesses that set the standard for inclusive tourism practices and can serve as an example to the tourism industry, by emphasising their inclusion ethos, their commitment to quality information provision and excellent customer service.
VisitScotland Inclusive Tourism Manager, Marina Di Duca, said: “Scotland is a naturally welcoming destination and I am delighted that the importance of inclusivity is being recognised as part of the Scottish Thistle Awards. The Inclusive Tourism award celebrates those businesses which have set the standard for Inclusive Tourism practices and can serve as an example to the industry. We’re delighted that The Cumberland will sponsor this inaugural category and I would encourage businesses demonstrating their commitment to inclusive practices to enter now.”
Simon Whitwham, General Manager, The Cumberland for Business said: “As a customer-owned building society, our purpose is to make a positive difference to the lives of our customers, communities and our people. Understanding that everyone is an individual and making every effort to ensure that we meet their specific needs is very important. So for us, sponsoring the inclusive tourism category this year is the perfect fit; celebrating the businesses and destinations that go the extra mile for all of their customers. “
Based in Carlisle, The Cumberland is the UK’s 10th largest building society. Founded in 1850 and with assets now exceeding £2.5 billion, The Cumberland offers award-winning mortgages for residential and commercial borrowers, and banking services for both personal and business use.
Our commercial lending team specialise in mortgages for hospitality and tourism businesses and we’re proud to have helped our customers set up and grow some of Scotland’s best loved hotels, B&Bs and self-catering properties.
The Scottish Thistle Awards attract entries from right across the country, with the regional winners earning their place at the prestigious National Final in March, where they will join the country’s tourism elite to be honoured with the highest accolade in the Scottish hospitality and tourism sector.
Nominations for the Inclusive Tourism category close on 23 August, with entries on 16 September. For more information, visit: https://www.scottishthistleawards.co.uk/enter
The Cumberland building society has been announced as sponsor for a new category in the Scottish Thistle Awards.