AFTER 164 visits, 16 panel meetings and six hours of debate, 56 winners have been announced as winners in this year's South West Tourism Excellence Awards, with West Devon coming out on top in several of the categories.

Among the winners are the Arundell Arms Hotel, Lifton, winning in the Tourism Activity, Sport and experience of the year category and the Business Tourism Award category, Gidleigh Park, Chagford, winning in the Small Hotel of the Year category, and Cotehele winning in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category.

Finalists in the awards include South West Lakes Trust, The Old Rectory Caravan and Camping Park, Gulworthy, the Arundell Arms, Lifton and The Horn of Plenty, Gulworthy.

There were 16 categories in the awards ranging from best hotel, event, attraction, activity, holiday park and self catering holidays to awards for customer service, access, sustainable tourism and business tourism. New for this year was a category of 'Tourism Pub', with winners from Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, while the 'Taste of the South West' winners list includes businesses from as far afield as the Isles of Scilly and Bournemouth.

All the winners in each category will have to wait until February 8 to learn whether they have won gold, silver or bronze at the prestigious awards ceremony, hosted at the Eden Project.

This year's judging was the tightest ever, with winners separated by fractions in their mystery shop scores and requiring lengthy debates among the judging panel.

Robin Barker, director of services for Tourism Ltd, which co-ordinates the awards, said: 'Five years ago the awards were a seasonal stand-alone activity, judged by a handful of mystery visitors and funded largely by the public purse.

'They have now developed into a significant year-round quality development and marketing operation, with an increasing range of benefits both to entrants and sponsors.

'Standing still is not an option in this industry, as amply demonstrated by this year's winners, whose innovation and investment in difficult times never ceases to amaze me.'

The South West Tourism Excellence Awards are the 'official' tourism awards for the region, offering entry to businesses in Somerset, Dorset, Bath, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and the Isles of Scilly as well as linking closely with the awards in Cornwall and Devon. They also form the regional heat of the national VisitEngland awards, to which most of the winner will now progress.

Three hundred entries were considered for the awards, with all entrants undergoing a rigorous short-listing process and 164 going on to be visited by a team of more than 30 judges and mystery shoppers.

Entry was free, and all entrants will receive feedback on how they've done, giving them the best opportunity both to hone their entry in future years and make improvements to their business.