Chirk Castle has scooped another prize at the Wrexham County Tourism awards.

The 2018 awards, organised by the This Is Wrexham Tourism Partnership, were held at the Coleg Cambria Yale site in Wrexham, with catering students from the college’s Hafod restaurant team providing the food.

The popular tourist attraction from Chirk was awarded the Best Tourism Attraction accolade the the fourth annual awards ceremony, which saluted some of the county’s most popular businesses and restaurants.

Jon Hignett, visitor experience manager at Chirk Castle, said: ““We are really proud to have won the award for Best Tourism Attraction at the This Is Wrexham Tourism Awards 2018, and especially as it is the second year running.

“We have a dedicated team of staff and volunteers working at the castle who we simply couldn’t open without, so this is received with a big thank you for all the work they all put in. After a year of record visitor numbers, it is great that so many people have visited and enjoyed finding out about the castle’s history, had fun at our events, relaxed in the gardens or explored the estate. This award, and the tourism awards as a whole, are a great statement about the growing strength of tourism in Wrexham and this area, and although the award is fantastic for us at Chirk Castle it also wouldn’t be possible without all of the other great attractions, restaurants and accommodation providers that bring visitors to this area.”

Destination manager at Wrexham County Borough Council, Joe Bickerton added: “This is the fourth year that we’ve had these awards and it’s been tremendous to see existing tourism businesses invest in developing their offer and entrepreneurs come to the table with quality and innovation at the forefront of their thinking. Whilst we’ve been working with the Tourism Partnership to develop a new three-year tourism action plan, it’s the staff on the frontline that we rely on to give a great first impression of the county and they’re consistently doing that.

“From our taxi drivers to our receptionists, to our bartenders; every role in this industry is vital – and over the next three years, we’re developing plans with partners across north Wales to retain the talent in this industry so that the region’s tourism scene continues to thrive.”