THE county's tourism industry is set for a boost thanks to new awards scheme launched yesterday.The Tourism in Suffolk awards will celebrate the county's top attractions, covering all aspects of the industry.

THE county's tourism industry is set for a boost thanks to new awards scheme launched yesterday.

The Tourism in Suffolk awards will celebrate the county's top attractions, covering all aspects of the industry.

Business and tourism representatives set sail from Neptune Quay in Ipswich for a scenic cruise aboard the Orwell Lady yesterday to discuss how the awards will benefit the county.

Scott Dolling, from the Suffolk Development Agency, said: “Celebrating and rewarding the best helps us all to strive for improved standards, so these tourism awards are great news.

“With tourism representing such an important part of the Suffolk economy and with Olympic opportunities soon with us, Suffolk needs to keep tourism at the forefront.”

Tourism in Suffolk is currently worth more than £1billion, employing about 30,000 people, and is expected to increase by an extra £130million over the next three years.

Martin Tuffs, newly-appointed chairman of Visit Ipswich - the overall award sponsors - said: “I hope the awards will highlight to the county the fantastic tourism places on offer here, such as fine hotels and fabulous small attractions. We want to boost people's views of the county.”

The twelve categories in the awards are: best Suffolk attraction, best bed and breakfast and guesthouse, best hotel, best caravan or holiday park, best self-catering establishment, best tourist information centre, a community award, sustainable tourism award, rising star award, education and training award, outstanding contribution to tourism award, and finally the people's award for best visitor experience, the latter of which is the only category where members of the public can cast their vote.

For all other categories, business can fill in entry forms online stating why they ought to be nominated.

Judging will take place in later in the summer and the awards ceremony will be held early autumn.

The judging will be conducted by category sponsors, as well as Suffolk Tourism Partnership, the East Anglian Daily Times, and the East of England Tourist Board.

The awards ceremony will be held at Trinity Park in Ipswich, early in the autumn.

n To enter your business into the inaugural Suffolk Tourism Awards, visit www.eadt.co.uk and click on the Suffolk Tourism link, which takes you to each category. The closing date is September 4.