Kent tourism businesses have swept the board at an award ceremony to reward excellence.

Thirteen enterprises won accolades in Tourism South East’s prestigious Tourism ExSEllence Awards 2008.

Three of them - VisitKent, based in Canterbury, Kent Conference Bureau, Maidstone, and guest house The Gardener’s Rest, Kingsdown, near Deal - were outright winners.

Kent Conference Bureau was named best for Business Tourism, The Gardener’s Rest came first for Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation, and Visit Kent, the private and public partnership that promotes the county’s £2.3 billion tourist industry, was voted Best Tourism Website.

Judges were looking for excellence, quality and innovation, covering all aspects of the business from customer service, sales and marketing, to training and development for staff.

Peter Birnie, former chief hotel inspector for the AA, judged the B&B/Guesthouse Category. He said The Gardener’s Rest was "a wonderful B&B, with no faults in the bedrooms, a magnificent garden and a passion for continuous improvement through marketing, training and innovation."

Alan Blenkinsopp, judge of the Business Tourism category, praised Kent Conference Bureau’s professional and enthusiastic team and exceptional service and easy-to-use website.

Jenefer (corr) Yeung (corr) judged the Tourism Website category. She said Visit Kent was the outright winner because of the websites "professional look and feel" and "easy-to-access information on what to see, what to do, and where to stay in Kent. "

Other highly-placed Kent enterprises were Canterbury Historic River Tours (runner-up for Best Tourism Experience); St Peter’s Village Tour, Broadstairs (highly commended for Best Tourism Experience); Bedgebury National Pinetum & Forest (runner up for sport tourism); Joss Bay Surf School, Broadstairs, (highly commended for sports tourism); Chatham Historic Dockyard and Rochester Castle (highly commended for Large Visitor Attraction of the Year); the Abode, Canterbury (runner-up for Large Hotel/Townhouse of the Year); Royal Tunbridge Wells Tourist Information (highly commended in the Tourist Information Centre category;) Rose and Crown, Selling, near Faversham (highly commended for Sustainable Tourism); and Alkham Court, Dover (highly commended for Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year).

Judges were looking for exceptional service and performance. and the awards were presented at the prestigious Wentworth Club in Surrey. Visit Kent was represented by chairman Amanda Cottrell and chief executive Sandra Matthews-Marsh.

Ms Matthews-Marsh said: "Kent has again shown the strength of its tourism industry. To have so many businesses recognised at these awards is a real achievement and I am also delighted Visit Kent’s own website – www.visitkent.co.uk – was recognised by the judges. We welcome 1.2 million users to the site so it’s great to know we are sharing award-winning content with our visitors."