THE coveted Best Tourist Board Website Award was claimed by VisitWiltshire last Thursday in a ceremony in London at the annual Travel Mole Web Awards.

This award recognises website content, layout, ease of navigation and innovation, and is voted for by members of the public.

It was a prize the five-year-old tourist board gladly claimed.

Fiona Errington, of VisitWiltshire, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won this award, especially after recently refreshing our website to make it fully responsive and incorporating our ‘timeless’ branding.

“This award has been won based on the public’s support which is a great achievement for us.”

The official tourist board for Wiltshire, a private sector membership group representing more than 630 partners, beat off rivals Visit Bath and Visit Florida for the prestigious gong.

“VisitWiltshire established an online marketing group comprised of a representative sample of its partners and the members provided ongoing input into the design and development of the VisitWiltshire website,” saidVisitWiltshire board member, Dr Philip Alford.

“It’s a good example of a collaborative approach to destination marketing and the effort involved has clearly paid off.”

Wiltshire’s visitor economy generates an estimated £1.5bn and supports more than 28,000 jobs – a matter Visit Wiltshire play a huge role in by raising awareness of the county.

On top of this success, Visit Wiltshire has also been nominated for the Tourism Superstar award.

This gong honours those who go above and beyond the call of duty to make every visitor’s experience special.