Avril Owton, proprietor of the Cloud Hotel, Brockenhurst, and a long-standing member of the British Hospitality Association (BHA), was named SHINE Woman of the Year at the 2006 SHINE Awards last week.

The SHINE Award winners were announced at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge, London on International Women’s Day – 28 February.

Attending the ceremony were some of the key people from the travel, tourism and hospitality industries, including representatives from ABTA, The Tourism Society, Thomas Cook, VisitBritain and Carnival Cruise Lines.

Vicky Pryce, chief economic advisor and director general of economics at DTI, was keynote speaker at the event, addressing the hundreds of attendees on the contribution of women to the UK economy.

The list of winners was as follows:

Young Achiever of the Year:

Kelly Colebatch, business development manager of Accor UK Hotels, Birmingham

Business Owner of the Year: Jacqui Kavanagh, director of Jigsaw Conferences, Stamford

Public Sector Woman of the Year:

Sue Hurdle, director of Travel Foundation, Bristol. Sue established this charity to encourage travel firms to support sustainable tourism.

Businesswoman of the Year: Patricia Rossello-Palmer, director of Medinland, London

Business Expert of the Year:

Jane Dyson, managing director, The Network

Shine Woman of the Year: Avril Owton, proprietor of Cloud Hotel, Brockenhurst, New Forest

Alessandra Alonso, joint managing director of SHINE People&Places, said: “All of the women who were included on the shortlist for this year’s SHINE Awards deserve significant recognition for the amazing contribution they give to their businesses and the industry at large.

“The winners, however, really shone out as truly inspirational role models for other women in business and stand proud as true champions for women’s advancement in industry.”

For a full list of winners and runners-up, and for comments from the judges, please visit the SHINE Awards website www.shineawards.com