We’re thrilled to be able to announce the winners of the 2021 Group Leisure & Travel Awards, an initiative which shines a spotlight on the best destinations, attractions and people as voted for and nominated by you. 

Introducing your Group Leisure & Travel Awards 2021 winners…

Best UK Attraction for Children & Families

  • Alton Towers
  • Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens
  • Drayton Manor Theme Park
  • Gulliver’s Theme Parks & Resorts
  • LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort (winner)
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • Aerospace Bristol (winner)
  • Beamish
  • Coldharbour Mill
  • National Justice Museum
  • The Tank Museum
  • V&A

Best Historic Attraction or Venue

  • Buckingham Palace
  • Coventry Cathedral
  • Hampton Court Palace
  • Hereford Cathedral
  • Leeds Castle (winner)
  • Warwick Castle

Leeds Castle

Source: Sarah Medway

Leeds Castle has a rich variety of attractions and activities available for groups, picking up this year’s award for Best Historic Attraction or Venue.

Best Garden Visit

  • Bodnant Garden
  • Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens
  • RHS Garden Harlow Carr
  • RHS Garden Wisley
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (winner)
  • The Savill Garden

Best Coach or Tour Operator - UK Tours

  • Airedale Tours
  • Brightwater Holidays
  • Daish’s Holidays
  • Dunwood (winner)
  • Edwards Coaches
  • InterChoice
 

You can watch a replay of the Awards Ceremony here…

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  • Condor Ferries
  • DFDS
  • Eurotunnel
  • Irish Ferries (winner)
  • P&O Ferries
  • Wightlink

Best Event for Groups

  • Gardeners’ World Live
  • Kynren
  • Leeds Castle Festival of Flowers
  • RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show
  • RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival
  • Royal Ascot (winner)
 

A big thank you to our 2021 Awards Partners:

GLT Awards Partner Logos 2021

 

Best Christmas Experience

  • Blenheim Palace (winner)
  • Castle Howard
  • Hampton Court Palace
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • Thursford Christmas Spectacular
  • Waddesdon Manor

Best Guided Tour

  • Hever Castle & Gardens
  • National Memorial Arboretum
  • RHS Garden Wisley (winner)
  • Tootbus (formerly The Original Tour)
  • Tower of London
  • Wembley Stadium

RHS Gardens Wisley

You decided that the best way to see RHS Wisley is via guided tour, topping the 2021 category.

Best Accommodation for Groups

  • Best Western Hotels & Resorts
  • Brend Hotels
  • Daish’s Holidays (winner)
  • The Imperial Hotel, Torquay
  • Potters Resort
  • Warner Leisure Hotels

Best Group Dining Experience

  • Borde Hill Garden
  • Chatsworth
  • Hard Rock Cafe (winner)
  • Polhill Garden Centre
  • Potters Resort
  • Warner Leisure Hotels

Best Theatre Production

  • The Lion King (winner)
  • Mary Poppins The Musical
  • Only Fools & Horses The Musical
  • The Prince of Egypt
  • Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
  • Wicked

Disney's The Lion King

Source: Deen van Meer

Disney’s The Lion King is clearly a favourite among GLT readers, scooping the Best Theatre Production prize.

Best Cruise Line

  • Arena River Cruises
  • CroisiEurope
  • Emerald Cruises
  • Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines (winner)
  • Katarina Line
  • Viking River Cruises

Best UK Destination

  • Bournemouth
  • Devon
  • Liverpool
  • London
  • Wiltshire
  • York (winner)

York Minster

With a host of attractions, including the impressive York Minster, you thought the city deserved to win the Best UK Destination Award.

The Excellence Award 2021

  • Hilary Christmas, Norman Allen Group Travel
  • Sandy Cornish, Tailored Travel (winner)
  • Jenni Duncan, Brightwater Holidays
  • Allen Elliot, Group Line

You can find out more about the Excellence Award by clicking here

Best Group Tour Operator

  • Airedale Tours
  • Cosmos
  • HF Holidays
  • Jet2holidays
  • Simply Groups
  • Travel Editions (winner)

Best UK Attraction

  • Beamish
  • LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort
  • National Memorial Arboretum (winner)
  • RHS Garden Wisley
  • Tower of London
  • ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Group Travel Organiser of the Year® 2021

  • Elizabeth Hodgson, Barnet U3A (winner)
  • Jackie Ring, Guildford U3A
  • James Silvester, Hartley and District Active Retirement Association
  • Maureen Tidbury, M&G Holidays

You can find out more about the Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award® by clicking here

The annual Group Leisure & Travel Awards, which exclusively features the Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award®, was broadcast as an online ceremony at on 28th October 2021. 

Click the button below to watch a replay of the full ceremony on-demand:

Watch the ceremony replay

You can find everything you need to know about the awards by clicking to groupleisureandtravel.com/awards.

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