Screen Stars Prepare to Shine

Release Date:Thursday, September 20

Screen stars prepare to shine

Yorkshire’s Olympic and Paralympic heroes and starsfrom Emmerdale are preparing for the biggest night in Yorkshire’stourism calendar – the White Rose Awards 2012.

Around 1,000 people will be attending the awards that celebrate the best of Yorkshire’s tourism industry and highlight those businesses that go the extra mile to promote the county.

Olympic gold medallist rower, Andy Triggs-Hodge, women’s flyweight gold medallist, Nicola Adams, and double Paralympic gold medallistwheelchair sprinter, Hannah Cockcroft, who all represented Yorkshire and Team GBare some of the champions attending.

Stars from Emmerdaleincluding Tom Lister, who plays Carl King,Nicola Wheeler, who stars as Nicola King, Rik Makrem, who appears as Nikhil Sharma, and Nick Miles, the soap’sJimmy King,havealso confirmed their attendance at the glitzy awards ceremony on October 1.

There are 15 awards to be won at the event and around 90 businesses from around the county that have made the list of finalists – the categories include best restaurant, best hotel, best pub and the outstanding customer service award among others.

The event is organised by tourism agency, Welcome to Yorkshire, and will take place in the Centenary Pavilion at Leeds United’s Elland Road.Tickets are still available for the event, which is expected to be a sellout.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “This is going to be one of the most exciting tourism events of year. The range of businesses up for awards this year speaks volumes about the quality of Yorkshiretourism and the people that make the county what it is. We are all excited about welcoming our Olympic and Paralympic heroes and leading TV stars who will add some real celebrity sparkle to proceedings.

“Yorkshire competes on a worldwide stage in terms of tourism. Events such as the White Rose Awardsoffer an opportunity to showcase what the county has to offer.”

Tickets for the major event can be purchased at or by r call 0113 322 3508.

For the full list of finalists please see

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Editors’ Notes:

• Welcome to Yorkshire is the official destination management organisation for Yorkshire, working to grow the county’s visitor economy.
• Welcome to Yorkshire is a not-for-profit membership organisation, funded in part by grants, sponsorship and Welcome to Yorkshire members. All money raised is reinvested directly back into promoting Yorkshire.
• Key facts include:
• Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually
• The county’s industry employs almost a quarter of a million people
• There are 216 million visits to Yorkshire each year

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Andy Denton – Press Officer

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