HEREFORDSHIRE has won a raft of prestigious awards at the regional Excellence in Tourism Awards 2008.

The glittering Hollywood-style event, at Birmingham’s ICC, was a celebration of the cream of West Midlands’ £5 billion tourist industry.

At the end of the evening the total tally of awards for Herefordshire businesses stood at three winners, three highly commended and two silver awards.

Visit Herefordshire had been shortlisted for two categories, best destination website and best tourism experience.

Herefordshire Council’s cultural services manager Jane Lewis said: “We landed the silver award for the website, and we were highly commended for the University of the Great Outdoors event organised by Visit Herefordshire which was held at Eastnor Castle in May.

“These awards reflect the importance that tourism plays to the county’s economy.

"They also demonstrate the commitment and effort put in by the council and local businesses to promote Herefordshire as a superb tourist destination.”

The awards were organised by Tourism West Midlands (TWM), the strategic tourism board of Advantage West Midlands (AWM), in association with the national Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2008.