The Railway Touring Company in King's Lynn and Parkdean Resorts with sites in Hunstanton and Heacham are winners in the 2020 British Travel Awards

A Lynn specialist holiday company and a park homes business with sites in Hunstanton and Heacham have collected top accolades in a prestigious national awards scheme.

The Railway Touring Company, located in Lynn's Tuesday Market Place, won gold, silver and bronze places in this year's British Travel Awards, considered to be a benchmark for excellence in the travel industry.

And Parkdean Resorts, which has holiday parks in Hunstanton and Heacham, won two golds awards.

The Railway Touring Company won gold in the Best Special Interests Holiday Company category, and took home silver for Best Small Railway Holiday Company and bronze for the Best Small Escorted Tours Holiday Company categories.

The Railway Touring Company have followed up the success of last year’s awards where they won two awards with three awards this year. Last year the company, renowned for providing exceptional railway holidays, succeeded in winning gold in the Best Small Rail Holiday Company and Best Small Escorted Tours Holiday Company categories.

This year’s awards were announced by TV presenter Alex Jones, at a virtual ceremony, broadcast live from London on Monday, December 14.

British Travel Awards’ chief executive Lorraine Barnes Burton said The Railway Touring Company was to be congratulated on its wins on what has been a most difficult year for the travel industry.

She said: “The winners of the British Travel Awards are decided by votes from the travelling public and despite many people being unable to take a holiday this year some did manage to, before and between lockdowns.

"We also asked voters to show their support for companies they had a good experience with, paying attention to customer service – recognising companies who had helped them with re-bookings, refunds and cancellations.”

The Railway Touring Company are now looking forward to 2021 and already have a choice of 50 rail-based holidays to choose from. Its extensive 2021 programme can be seen by visiting the website www.railwaytouring.net.

Parkdean Resorts, the UK’s largest holiday park operator, which operates seven holiday parks in East Anglia, won gold awards for Best UK Family Holiday Company, and Best UK Holiday Parks and Lodges Company.

These awards take Parkdean Resorts’ tally of wins to nine over the last five years, having also picked up the title of Best UK Family Holiday Company at last year’s ceremony. The company owns and operates 67 award winning holiday parks nationwide in coastal locations and areas of natural beauty across the UK.

Steve Richards, chief executive, Parkdean Resorts, said: “Our team has worked exceptionally hard to put a smile on the face of so many British families after such a difficult year. The BTAs are voted for by members of the public, so these awards are a ringing endorsement of all the hard work that our teams up and down the country have put in to help create amazing memories for our holidaymakers and owners.”