Women in Tourism Support 2018 BWS Hospitality and Tourism Awards

Representatives from the Women in Tourism board were delighted to attend the 2018 BWS Hospitality & Tourism Awards, which took place on Thursday 17 May at the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow. 

Women in Tourism is again proud to support the BWS Hospitality and Tourism Awards, together with Scotland Can Do and HIT Scotland, to celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurial women across Scotland and the creation of relevant and positive business role models to inspire the next generation of women tourism leaders.

The 2018 awards received over 150 entries across ten categories and the Judging Panel, including WIT Chair Susan Russell, Head of Marketing for Criton; David Cochrane Chief Executive of HIT Scotland, and Fiona Richmond, Special Projects Manager at Scotland Food & Drink, had the challenging task of selecting the winners.

The evening commenced with a drinks reception including gin cocktails created by female mixologists from Tennents Training Academy, followed by an entertaining evening of music, speakers and the awards ceremony chaired by MC Rachel McTavish. Guests enjoyed an excellent dinner produced by six talented female chefs, under the guidance of Executive Head Chef James Murphy: the BWS Awards programme included profiles of each chef and their own career story.

In recognition of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018, Hannah Rarity, winner of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2018, entertained the audience in song, accompanied by Calum Morrison on guitar and Bernadette Kellermann on the fiddle. Later in the evening the audience also heard from Nicole Sullivan of Hickory, 2017 BWS Rising Star and HIT Scholarship winner; learning about Nicole’s personal career journey to date.

Industry speakers Anne Mulhern, owner of the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow, and Dale MacPhee, GM of the Waldorf Astoria, Edinburgh, offered entertaining insights into their respective career progressions, providing inspiration, insights and laughter. From Anne we learned that we should never give up on pursuing our business goals, and from Dale, the importance of trusting our instincts, mentoring, training and travelling; and keeping interests outside of work to maintain an important sense of perspective.

Established and emerging business owners and operators from Aberdeenshire, Cupar, Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Helensburgh, St Andrew’s, Kinross and South Queensferry were clearly all worthy winners of the  2018 awards. Anne Mulhern MBE, who launched Glasgow’s Willow Tea Rooms in 1983, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, the judges describing Anne as a person who has never forgotten the people who have helped her on the way and is always keen to get involved and speak to others who are looking at new opportunities.

Commenting on this year’s awards, BWS founding director, Lynne Kennedy said: “These awards recognise the entrepreneurial talents of women across Scotland and help to create more business role models to inspire the next generation of leading women. The awards are also a celebration of women making their mark and their way in the world of business this year. The notable contribution women are making to boost Scotland’s economy cannot be underestimated and it is important we continue to develop a diverse and thriving world-class business environment for us to all operate in. We commend all of our nominees and heartily congratulate our winners!”

Check out the full list of 2018 BWS Hospitality and Tourism Award Winners here.

View the event’s tweets via the tag #BWSHospitalityandTourism.