JORVIK, Castle Howard and the Yorkshire Air Museum are among the York and North Yorkshire attractions which could receive a tourism "Oscar".

The Yorkshire Tourist Board has announced the 56 finalists who could walk away with one of the prestigious White Rose Awards for tourism.

The awards were created 14 years ago to recognise and reward excellence in tourism, which is the largest and fastest-growing industry in the region.

Among those shortlisted is the stately home Castle Howard, near Malton, which has reached the final for both the Large Visitor Attraction Of The Year award and the Tourism For All award.

Two York attractions, Jorvik and the National Railway Museum, join Castle Howard in the final for the Large Visitor Attraction award, for tourist attractions, which receive over 100,000 visitors.

They will be fighting off competition from Eureka, the children's museum in Halifax, Bradford's National Museum for Photography, Film and Television and the National Coal Mining Museum, in Wakefield.

York's Dean Court Hotel and Hazlewood Castle, in Tadcaster, have been nominated for Small Hotel Of The Year, an award for hotels with up to 50 bedrooms.

Bishopgate Pavilion, York, Orchard Cottage, Goathland and Shoreline Cottages in Whitby have all reached the final five for the prestigious title, Self-Catering Holiday Of The Year. Rudding Park, in Harrogate could scoop the Caravan Park Of The Year award.

York website www.visityork.org has been nominated for Tourism Website Of The Year while the city's National Centre For Early Music is one of the contenders for Conference Venue Of The Year.

The Best Newcomer to Tourism award could go to One3Two, a new hotel in Tadcaster Road, York, or The Deep, in Hull.

The winners will be unveiled at a special ceremony in the banqueting suite at Leeds United's Elland Road ground.

Those who snatch the top spot in nine of the 12 awards will automatically qualify for the National Excellence in England awards held in Spring 2004.

Nominations are well underway for the Outstanding Customer Service Award. Members of the public can nominate any person or organisation involved in tourism in the region by phoning 01904 707961, visiting www.yorkshiretouristboard.net or www.yorkshirevisitor.com or by dropping into any Tourist Information Centre.

Updated: 09:41 Friday, June 13, 2003