The Crown Spa Hotel Scarborough was awarded top honours at the White Rose Awards last month.

The White Rose Awards are the industry of the Yorkshire tourism industry and The Crown Hotel bagged the Sustainable Tourism Award as well as being nominated nominated for the Large Hotel of the year award.

Held each year the White Rose Awards celebrate the regions best accommodation, local attractions and events. The Crown Spa Hotel Scarborough will now progress to the finals of the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence which will be held next year.

The other big winner was The Sands Self Catering Apartments in Scarborough. The North Bay accommodation provider went home with the award for best Self Catering, Cruisers and Serviced Apartments.

As well the accommodation in Scarborough there were also many other venues nominated for the awards including: Pickering Tourist Information Center, Cedarbarn Farm Shop in Pickering, The Leeway in Whitby, Yorkshire Lavender at Terrington, White Swan Inn in Pickering, The Blue Bell Inn in Weaverthorpe, 17 Burgate in Pickering, All Seasons Guest House in Filey, The Copper Horse in Seamer and the Jasmine Caravan Park in Snainton.

Gary Verity, CEO of Welcome to Yorkshire said “The White Rose Awards are a true celebration of all that is amazing about Yorkshire tourism and it was very difficult for the judges to actually choose the winners from such a fantastic selection of nominees.”

The numbers of Brits choosing to holiday abroad has decreased by 1% over the last year as increased financial pressures have caused a growing trend in staycations instead.

On the other hand, as you may expect, inbound tourism has seen an increase with non EU visits up 6% and North America visits increasing by an impressive 10%.

Tourism forms a hugely important part of the UK economy and contributes approximately £115bn per year. That’s nearly equivalent to 10% of the UK’s entire Gross Domestic Product. It is a little disappointing however to note that these increased tourist numbers haven’t been matched by an increase in spending, although the boost should be seen as a big plus for the UK economy during these difficult economic times.

Head of Hospitality and Leisure at Barclays Corporate, Mike Saul said:

“Consumer confidence remains delicate and the decline in outbound travel highlights these difficult times felt by so many. The popularity of staycations is increasing, as discretionary spend continues to be limited, which is in turn helping to boost sales for UK holiday villages and accommodation providers as families choose to holiday closer to home, avoiding airport taxes, poor exchange rates and the risk of strike action.”

“The Eurozone crisis is sure to knock confidence even more, but this could actually result in last minute travel deals for those who shop around. There is also a chance that European travellers will look to the UK for bargains as the sterling remains weak which could help to boost figures even more in the run up to Christmas.”

Scarborough Council have this week received detailed plans for the next stage of the multi-million pound ‘The Sands’ development in Scarborough from developers Benchmark Leisure.

The latest plan for The Sands project sees a new all-year-round water park – complete with giant ‘tornado slide’, family restaurant and holiday homes being built on the site of the former Atlantis waterpark, Mr Marvels and Kinderland children’s park.

As well as a much needed top quality attraction for both visitors and locals, it is believed that this next phase of The Sands development will create over 100 jobs in Scarborough. Approximately 60 new jobs are expected to be created at the water park, 35 jobs at the new holiday accommodation and 10 jobs at the Scarborough restaurant, according to figures printed in the Evening News paper.

The submitted plans state that the long promised water park is integral to the redevelopment of The Sands project in order to meet the aspirations for both tourism and the economy in Scarborough.

Once built the new water park will replace the old Atlantis water park, which was demolished several years ago, and will see a major visitor attraction return to North Bay, helping to regain the holiday resort characteristics which were lost when Atlantis closed.

Construction of the water park is expected to begin in 2013 as it will be the first element of the development to be brought forward. It is then expected that the rest of the development will follow on over a staggered timescale throughout the next few years.

Not only will visitors and locals soon be able to experience the ‘tornado slide’; the water park will also include a wave pool, children’s pool, outdoor family pool, lazy river and spa.

The Mr Marvels site is will see the creation of The Bayview Holiday village, with the former Kinderland kid’s park becoming be the site of 29 Scarborough holiday lodges. Parking for 492 cars will also be created nearby with an overspill car park on Burniston Road.