Award Categories.

This award is designed to celebrate excellence in the retail service industry. To be considered, businesses must highlight what separates them from the competition and gives the best customer experience. This award will be mystery shopped. The winner will have satisfied the following criteria:

Excellent customer experience.
Good value for money.
Pleasing display.

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This award is open to any business that can demonstrate their focus on customer services. Mystery shoppers will look at all aspects of the service provided in terms of staff interaction and the range of services on offer as appropriate to the needs of customers. The mystery shopper will pay particular attention to:

The initial impact of the business.
How the staff interact with customers and enhance the customer experiences.
How the business exceeds customers' expectations.
How the service provided delight the customer.

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This award is open to businesses that have shown a commitment to the sustainability of the local environment and have demonstrated respect to their heritage. The award is based on the following criteria:

Environmentally sound operations and processes.
Plans for sustained environmentally conscious growth.
Innovative management concepts.

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The winner of this award will have shown a unique innovative approach to doing business which has seen a clear benefit to the company. The winner will be chosen based on the following criteria:

Innovation used to benefit the company.
Innovation used to benefit customers.
Examples of positive impact on the business.

For The Best Tourism Award there are 3 principle categories. Entry is open to bona fide tourism businesses, entrepreneurs, visitor attractions, organisations and events. This award gives recognition to and promote people, companies and organisations that have made significant contributions to developing, marketing, selling and delivering improved visitor experiences in the region.

(1) Best Outdoor/Indoor Adventure Experience

This award is presented to the business or organisation that has demonstrated a commitment to the development, delivery and promotion of a creative, exciting outdoor tourism experience that is designed for activity enthusiasts, and which showcases and promotes Kerry's and the regions spectacular scenery.

 

Judging Criteria:

 

Describe how your adventure experience demonstrates excitement and creativity.

Show how your adventure experience attracts new visitors to the region.

Define the commitment to growth and sustainability of the product/experience.

(2) Best Cultural Festivals Award

This award is presented to the festival or event that exemplifies best practices in all aspects of its operations and which increases the number of visitors to Kerry and the region. It may be, but is not limited to being, of the following type: cultural, historical, musical, arts, sporting, culinary, literary, humorous, or of general interest. This award aims to acknowledge and reward the hard work and efforts by all behind Kerry's rapidly growing festival circuit.

Judging Criteria:

Define the commitment to visitor/participant/spectator satisfaction.

Show how it stimulates economic activity during the festival/event.

Explain how it promotes tourism and develops economic activity year-round in the region.

Describe the social/cultural impact on Kerry and the region

(3) Hospitality Award

This awards seek to recognise and reward excellence in service, quality, value, experience, creativity and innovation in the Hotel, Restaurant, Cafe, Pub, Live Music Venue in Kerry or experience for holidaymakers or those visiting friends and relatives or taking short breaks, and which are centred on the fundamental principles of hospitality and customer service.

 

Judging Criteria:

Show how your business / service demonstrates creativity and innovation with the services provided to delight the customer.

Explain how it promotes tourism and develops economic activity year-round in the Kerry region.

Show the economic impact of your innovation to Kerry and the region.

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This award is confined to voluntary community enterprises that provide services, funds, resources, knowledge and skills to sustain and develop an important community service. They must display the following criteria:

Key objectives of the social enterprise.
Demonstrate growth in the enterprise since it was first established.
Evidence of a clear, structured social enterprise strategy.

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This award will recognise a successful family business that has grown and adapted to present and future markets while maintaining the identity and original concept of the founder. This award is for family businesses operating in any sector of the economy, which has enjoyed outstanding success. The criteria for this award includes:

Family involvement.
How the staff interact with customers and enhance the customer experiences.
How the business exceeds customers' expectations.
How the service provided delight the customer.

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This award will focus specifically on businesses based in rural areas. Applicants will have shown innovation in the rural business sector, overcoming significant barriers and creating sustained local employment. The criteria for this award includes:

Example of positive impact on the local community.
Demonstration of innovation in the business.
High customer service standards.

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This award will recognise businesses that showed excellent social and ethical responsibility within the community. The award will go to the company that has shown the greatest social corporate responsibility, broadening their focus beyond making a profit and into benefiting the wider area as a whole. The award will go to the business that best demonstrates the following criteria:

Benefits felt by the community.
Evidence of projects that have benefited the local community.
Business leadership skills.

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This award is open to worker in a skilled trade, craftsman, craftswoman, craftspersons, skilled worker, especially one that involves making things by hand. Street markets where local artisans display handwoven textiles, painted ceramics, and leather goods, food or drink.

Demonstration of innovation in the business.
High customer service standards.

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This Award will be presented to a pillar of the Kerry business community, a person who has led and inspired others, a person who has spent a lifetime in business - in good times and bad. The Lifetime Achievement recipient will have had a key impact in his/her sector, will have been the key driving force in that business and will have shown outstanding leadership qualities, developed and achieved clear business goals in the course of their business life.

Their work will have made a significant difference in their community and sector; their commitment will have been more than simply doing a job. They will have gone above and beyond what was expected of them.

Nominations are invited.

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