THE owner of travel operator The Mountain Goat has walked away with the top honour at the Cumbria Tourism Awards 2019.

Stephen Broughton won the Bernard Gooch Tourism Personality of the Year Award at the glittering ceremony attended by almost 400 people at Cartmel Racecourse on Wednesday night.

Mr Broughton has been involved in the Windermere headquartered business since the 1990s, before buying it with fellow investors Sir Norman Stoller CBE and Peter Nattrass and becoming managing director. The company – which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2022 – operates across the Lake District and last year expanded into North Wales and Yorkshire.

Mr Broughton – who also owns the Lindeth Howe hotel with Sir Norman, the former home of Beatrix Potter – was recognised for his impact as both a businessman and in his strategic work with Cumbria Tourism, Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and the Japan Forum.

Elsewhere, Castlerigg Hall Caravan, Camping and Glamping Park, Keswick, scooped Camping, Glamping & Holiday Park of the Year while the Lake District Calvert Trust, Keswick, won the Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award. The Lingholm Estate in Portinscale, near Keswick emerged victorious in the Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year category and Another Place, The Lake, at Ullswater won the Large Hotel of the Year.

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year went to Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway while Wordsworth House and Garden, Cockermouth picked up Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

Jake Winter, Lyzzick Hall Hotel, Keswick won The Sheila Hensman Award for Outstanding Contribution to Excellence.

Cumbria Tourism’s managing director, Gill Haigh, said: “Our thriving tourism businesses have again showed the sheer range, quality and innovation on offer in the county and this event reinforces the hard work and dedication shown by tourism businesses who deliver world class experiences to millions of visitors day in, day out."

The awards were hosted by comedian Mike Wilkinson.