COTEHELE, the National Trust's Tudor mansion, gardens and estate on the River Tamar has been named as a finalist in the large visitor attraction of the year category for the 2012 Cornwall Tourism Awards.

The nomination means Cotehele will receive either a gold, silver or bronze award at this year's Cornwall Tourism Awards ceremony to be held at the Headland Hotel, Newquay, on Thursday, November 8, and, if relevant, will be fast-tracked into the South West and potentially VisitEngland awards. 

Last Autumn Cotehele won the gold award in this same category and then went on to win the category at the South West awards.

The Cornwall Tourism Awards celebrates the achievements of tourism businesses and individuals that represent the best of the county.

Cotehele has become a year round visitor attraction and last year saw more than 130,000 visitors.

Charmian Saunders, Cotehele visitor services and volunteer manager, says: 'I was absolutely delighted to receive this news.  The volunteers and staff work really hard to ensure we deliver excellent customer service. This has been recognised in reaching the finals of this very prestigious award.'

The judging panel was looking for all elements of nominee's business to be excellent, with some of them outstanding.  Cornwall Tourism Awards organisers point out that to be amongst the winners, given the level of competition, is a very significant achievement.