The awards, held at Wentworth Golf Club on Thursday 22 October, recognises excellence, quality and innovation that has been achieved over the last 18 months, across all sectors of the tourism industry in the South East.

IW Council's Events team accepted the award from TV personality Gyles Brandreth.

"The festival is the UK's largest and regularly attracts over 20,000 visitors and is no stranger to winning prestigious awards.

"Not only did the Walking Festival win an award, there were six other award winners from the Isle of Wight on the day.

"This demonstrates to me that when it comes to tourism, the Island is getting some excellent recognition"

A full list of all the winners, including the other Isle of Wight winners, can be found at www.getdiscovered2009.co.uk/2009-finalists.asp