A WEST Devon holiday park is celebrating the start of the new season with a top industry award.

John and Dorothy Lewis, the owners of Woodovis Park near Gulworthy, are the proud recipients of a British Quality Foundation (BQF) award under the Tourism Business Excellence Programme.

The award — usually presented to much bigger organisations and designed to recognise commitment to excellence and business development — graded the achievements at Woodovis Park as easily exceeding the commitment to excellence scheme's minimum requirements.

Launched in 2009-10, the Tourism Business Excellence Programme was set up in the South West to bring lasting improvements to businesses in the travel sector, developed upon the BQF excellence model. Following a rigorous improvement programme and validation assessment process, John and Dorothy were commended for their commitment and achievements.

John said: 'It's not enough in the current climate to be good at what you do.

'The British Quality Foundation process has provided us with an excellent vehicle for assessing the business and taking tangible steps to moving forward.'

Other recent accolades for Woodovis include ranking in the top 25 in Practical Caravan magazine's Top 100 sites for the fourth year running; making the top 50 sites in Practical Motorhome magazine; becoming a finalist in the Hoseseasons Diamond Award for 'exceptional quality and outstanding customer service'; taking silver in the 'Holiday Park of the Year' category of the South West Tourism Excellence Awards and a gold in the Devon Tourism Awards.