THE new £5 million Penderyn Distillery in Llandudno has been named North Wales’s top attraction at the region’s tourism ‘Oscars’.

There might be a three-to-five year wait before its whisky, a sister to the popular range produced at the original Penderyn distillery, near Aberdare, can be sampled, but its visitor centre is already packing them in.

It received its accolade at the Go North Wales Tourism Awards, a glittering event at Venue Cymru in Llandudno sponsored by leading food distribution company, Harlech Foodservice, and hosted by journalist Sian Lloyd.

The occasion was also a 30th anniversary celebration for organiser North Wales Tourism which was founded in 1990 and now represents more than 1,500 members across the region.

The Llandudno distillery is housed in the Grade II listed Old Board School in the town’s Lloyd Street and only opened in May.

A delighted manager, Dafydd Pesic-Smith, said: “It is going very well and it’s great to be in such a brilliant town.

“We’re a well-known and trusted brand and people are out and about now and they’re enjoying visiting us and seeing what we do.”

Also honoured at the event was Dr Shyam Patiar MBE, the former Director of Hospitality and Catering at Coleg Llandrillo, who received the Go 30 Years in Tourism Award, sponsored by Tir Prince Leisure Group,

The accolade was to recognise the immense contribution to the tourism and hospitality sector made by Dr Patiar, who has dedicated his professional life to preparing young people to excel in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Many of his protegés have gone on to have stellar careers, including the likes of TV chef Bryn Williams, who runs acclaimed restaurants in London and Colwyn Bay.

Dr Patiar is currently training young people in the industry to compete against the best in the World Skills Olympics which will take place next year in Shanghai, China.

According to chair of the judges Jim Jones, the chief executive of North Wales Tourism, the amount of investment going into improving the infrastructure of the tourism and hospitality sector was a vote of confidence in the future of the industry in North Wales.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry was flying with the overall income generated increasing to an all-time high of £3.6 billion in 2019 when the number of visitors rocketed to nearly 37 million.

After a massive slump, the staycation boom this summer showed that North Wales was still a hugely popular destination for holidaymakers.

Jim Jones said: “Like everybody else, the tourism industry has endured an absolute nightmare over the past 20 months and, because of the nature of the business, our sector was disproportionately affected during the lockdown periods.

“I would like to congratulate the winners and the other finalists tonight because was they have achieved is utterly remarkable, particularly under the most difficult of circumstances.

“I would also like to stress that all the nominees are playing an absolutely vital role in leading the economic recovery here in North Wales and I would like to thank them for their incredible ongoing contribution.”

David Cattrall, the managing director of Harlech Foodservice, said: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to be the headline backer of the awards and to sponsor two individual categories because the tourism and hospitality industry represents our core customer base.

“Although we’ve all had an extremely tough time, there are reasons to be optimistic for the future and the scale of investment going into North Wales shows there is a strong belief that this is a first-class, must-visit destination.”

North Wales Tourism used the occasion to raise money for their nominated charity, St David’s Hospice in Llandudno.