Holiday giant Haven’s 500-acre Hafan y Mor near Pwllheli has been short-listed in the Bro a Byd Environmental Sustainability and the Best Self-Catering categories at The National Tourism Award for Wales while Llangollen’s The Bearded Men, Jason Rickwood and Hugh Luckock, are up for Best Activity and Rising Star

The event is being staged by the Welsh Government to showcase the best of the best in the industry that employs nearly 12 per cent of the Welsh workforce and pumps £3.8 billion into the nation’s economy every year.

The ceremony takes place for the first time in six years at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Thursday, March 27, when a total of 48 finalists have been shortlisted in 12 categories ranging from Best Hotel to Best Event and including awards for Sustainable Tourism, Accessibility and Inclusivity and Dog Friendliness.

The event will be hosted by Aled Rhys Jones, a well-known broadcaster who’s also the Chief Executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society.

Entertainment will be provided by the popular Welsh of the West End group who reached the semi final of Britain’s Got Talent and Band Pres Llareggub (Llareggub Brass Band) with their exciting blend of Welsh language pop, traditional New Orleans jazz and New York Hip Hop.

Tickets are available from https://www.walestourismawards.co.uk/the-awards/

Hafan y Mor stands on 500 acres of Gwynedd seafront and is one of the biggest – and one of the greenest holiday parks – in the UK, according to general manager Denise Bossons.

The park has already lifted the Sustainable Tourism trophy for North Wales and has its sights set on the Wales Tourism Awards and Denise and her team can make a good case.

She said: “We’re absolutely delighted. We’ve worked very hard over the last three years and Haven have put a lot of investment in.

“We have the single largest roof space area of any Haven park and we put it to good use with hundreds of solar panels on our buildings, all our vehicles are fully electric and guests with electric cars can charge them while they’re here.

“We can have up to 5,000 guests her at any one time and we have made a huge investment in solar lighting while with a Site of Special Scientific Interest next door we work on encouraging wildlife with reptile fencing and a bat hotel.

“We hydro seed with a mix of seed and mulch for wild flowers which encourage bees and butterflies while we also have otters, badgers and rabbits here and our park rangers organise activities like fossil hunting on the beach and wildlife walks.

“It’s really important to us and when we entered the North Wales awards last year we saw it as an opportunity to take stock of what we’ve done and also to see what more we can do.”

Llangollen’s The Bearded Men, Jason Rickwood and Hugh Luckock, are shortlisted for Best Activity and Rising Star having already done the double at the North Wales Tourism Awards.

Their 18-year-old employee Hugh Owen is in the last four for the Rising Star award just two years after joining the business and Jason said: “He started with us at 16 and has earned his spurs.

“He is now a fully-fledged guide and takes a range of courses including canoeing, rafting and archery.

“We’re now in our seventh year, starting just before Covid hit and while we were one of the first to close we were among the first to re-open and we turned that into a positive.

“We now employ between 20 and 30 people, 11 of them full time and have just taken on a hotel in Llangollen.

“We get people from all over the country coming here and increasingly from the USA and Canada thanks to the Ryan Reynolds factor at Wrexham Football Club.

“We believe in working with local businesses because we really love the town. It’s a great location for us because we’re within an hour of big population centres and people can be on the river or outdoors very quickly.”

The event has been welcomed by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning with responsibility for tourism, Rebecca Evans.

She said: “We’re proud to support The National Tourism Awards for Wales in this Year of Croeso as they provide an opportunity to recognise and celebrate excellence in an industry that is crucial to the Welsh economy.

“Congratulations to all who have been nominated for an award. Wales has so much to offer visitors – and the positive, high-quality experiences you provide for your guests contribute immensely to our attractiveness as a destination.”

Jim Jones, the Chief Executive of North Wales Tourism, who are organising this year’s event, said: “It’s wonderful to be hosting The National Tourism Awards for Wales here in North Wales.

“It is an opportunity to celebrate the best of the best in the tourism and hospitality sector in Wales and the exceptional job these businesses do in putting Wales on the international map.

“The sheer volume and quality of entries this year has underlined why Wales is a truly world class destination and showcases what we have to offer visitors from home and abroad.

“Tickets are available to all for what promises to be wonderful evening with fantastic entertainment and, most important of all, an opportunity to celebrate all that is best in Welsh tourism.”

Tickets for the event are available from https://www.walestourismawards.co.uk/the-awards/