The Scottish Thistle Awards 2025, Scotland’s most prestigious tourism and hospitality awards, are now open for nominations! These awards celebrate businesses, individuals, and initiatives that go the extra mile to create exceptional visitor experiences across Scotland.
As the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), we encourage our members to nominate self-catering businesses, innovative tourism initiatives, and outstanding individuals who contribute to Scotland’s thriving tourism sector.
🏆 Gain industry recognition for your hard work and dedication.
🌍 Showcase your commitment to sustainability and innovation.
🏡 Highlight Scotland’s outstanding self-catering sector.
💡 Inspire others and help set the standard for excellence in tourism.
Before our entries open, nominations are a chance for visitors to have their say on which tourism businesses and events have stood out to them. Once a business has been nominated, we’ll let them know and encourage them to enter and be in with a chance of winning a coveted Scottish Thistle Award.
Nominations for our 2025 programme are open from 3 – 31 March and you can nominate a business or event on the Scottish Thistle Awards website.
Any tourism business or event – whether they have been nominated or not – can enter the Scottish Thistle Awards.
Entries for our 2025 programme open on Monday 17 March.
We have a panel of independent industry experts who judge all entries during May and June.
Every autumn, five regional Scottish Thistle Awards take place, with winners progressing to the national final. Businesses and individuals should enter their respective regional awards to be considered:
📍 Central and East Regional Final – Delivered by VisitScotland
📍 West Regional Final – Delivered by VisitScotland
📍 Highland and Islands Tourism Awards (HITA) – Find out more
📍 Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards (ACSTA) – Find out more
📍 South of Scotland Thistle Awards – Find out more
🏡 Best Self-Catering Accommodation Experience
🌿 Climate Action Award
⭐ Tourism individual of the year
💡 Innovation in Tourism
🏘️ Best Community Tourism and Events Initiative
👥 Inclusive Award
Other Regional Categories to consider:
If you know a business, individual, or initiative that deserves recognition, now is the time to nominate them here.
Let’s celebrate the best of Scotland’s self-catering and tourism industry at the Scottish Thistle Awards 2025!