BLACKPOOL is Grand! And that was certainly the overall feeling after Friday's Tourism Awards 2000 which honoured the great and the good of the resort in a dazzling dinner at the De Vere Hotel.

And The Citizen was at the forefront of applauding achievements by once again sponsoring the top award, Entertainment Centre Of The Year, which was scooped by Blackpool Grand Theatre.

Last year the theatre presented more than 500 shows of comedy, drama, dance, ballet and opera to visitors and residents alike.

Deputy general manager Neil Thompson collected the award from Citizen editor Alec Stuttard.

General manager Stephanie Sirr said of the accolade: "It's particularly nice to win something voted for by the audiences at this theatre.

"I would like to pay tribute to the excellent team at the Grand who work so hard to get people to visit the theatre and make them feel so welcome."

Silver award winners The Globe Theatre at Blackpool Pleasure Beach were represented by Globe Theatre manager David Bailey who collected their third trophy of the evening. Managing director Geoffrey Thompson said: "We are delighted to receive the recognition of our visitors and it is gratifying as we work so hard to make our visitors feel welcome."

Head of Tourism Jane Seddon said of the third annual event: "The year 2000 produced more than 25,000 nominations from visitors to Blackpool which praised the establishments concerned for the quality and high standards of service. And all of the entries should be very proud of what they have achieved.

"We are honouring quality in Blackpool. However, I would like to see a year when every establishment in Blackpool can be entered in to these awards and not just a committed few."

For the year 2000 new judging criteria were added. Nominations were received and short listed and then an independent judging panel, which included the Citizen's own Sarah Sharp, received a submission from the establishments outlining a business case for why they felt they should win.

Jane Seddon added: "Blackpool has got a positive future that includes the news that our sea water is safe, that the Labour Party and the union conferences are coming back, the football stadium is finally going ahead and Blackpool Tourism has just won the National Crme award for the design and operation of the web site. "We've finally got a vision for the town that includes exciting proposals for resort casinos and the potential for major investment in the leisure and retail and conference sector.

"Thank you to all our judges and my special thanks go to Katherine O'Connor for being responsible for all the organisation of the awards."

"We are good at what we do, but we are going to get even better. We need to regain our pride in Blackpool and be proud of what we are striving to achieve.

"By working together in partnership we can secure Blackpool's future."