Southampton Saints have been named as finalists in VisitEngland's Tourism Superstar 2025 competition.

The competition, now in its 13th year, aims to identify the unsung heroes of England's tourism industry.

VisitEngland announced the ten finalists on Friday, December 20.

The contest highlights individuals and groups in tourism who provide exceptional experiences for visitors.

The Southampton Saints, based at the City of Southampton Port, were chosen from dozens of nominations that spanned all areas of tourism across England.

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The Southampton Saints were recognised for their outstanding contribution to tourism (Image: Pixabay) They will now compete for the title of Tourism Superstar, which will be decided by a public vote on VisitEngland's website.

VisitEngland director, Andrew Stokes, said: "Tourism Superstar provides the public with an opportunity to celebrate individuals within England’s tourism industry who go above and beyond time-after-time to give visitors truly exceptional experiences.

"We have the most fantastic, passionate people working in England’s tourism industry who continually raise the customer service bar.

"We congratulate the ten finalists and wish them every success in the competition, though of course they are all superstars already."

The Southampton Saints will be competing against individuals and groups from a range of other tourism sectors, including Dartmoor Zoo, Adventure Island in Essex and the team at Leicester Museums & Galleries.

The public will be able to vote for their favourite superstar on VisitEngland’s website from mid-February 2025, when the competition officially opens.

Short films of all the finalists will be shown on VisitEngland’s website to support with voting.

The films will feature the finalists carrying out their duties in their tourism roles and promoting their local destinations.

Voting will continue until the end of English Tourism Week, which takes place from Friday, March 14 to Sunday, March 23, 2025.

The superstar with the highest number of votes will be crowned winner at the end of the competition and will receive the Tourism Superstar award in spring at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence event.

Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, supporting more than 200,000 businesses, employing approximately 2.6 million people and generating £70.5 billion in domestic visitor spending in 2023.

More information can be found on their website.