Up for a Destination Lincolnshire tourism award are JandJ Alpacas and Mrs Smith’s Cottage

Two local attractions have been shortlisted for a tourism award.

JandJ Alpacas, in Dry Doddington, and a volunteer at Mrs Smith’s Cottage, in Navenby, have made it through as finalists in the annual Destination Lincolnshire Awards.

The awards aim to showcase tourism businesses that have “demonstrated outstanding innovation, commitment, and leadership in the tourism industry over the past year”.

Now finalists have been announced, ‘mystery shopping’ has begun.

JandJ Alpacas, an alpaca centre and coffee shop, is in the Experience of the Year and Small Visitor Attraction of the Year categories. It is run by Jess Stanger.

“We are very proud to say we are finalists for the Lincolnshire Tourism Awards, in not only one category but two.

“This is very new to us but we are excited to welcome the mystery shoppers over the coming weeks.”

Described as a ‘domestic museum’, Mrs Smith’s Cottage is an unmodernised cottage which was home to Hilda Smith for more than 70 years. It was bought by North Kesteven District Council in 1995 when she died at the age of 102.

The cottage and garden features items that were in the cottage when Mrs Smith lived there and also photographs which show how the rooms were laid out.

One volunteer, Hazel Wooding, has been singled out for the Unsung Hero award.

Hazel applied to join the Mrs Smith’s Cottage volunteer team in an effort to combat isolation and improve her mental health.

In the short time she has been with the team, her drive for learning and development has inspired volunteers at the cottage and facilitated not only ongoing projects there, but also some of her own invention, including cataloguing every plant in the cottage garden.

A spokesperson for Mrs Smith’s Cottage said: “We are excited to announce that we've been shortlisted for a Destination Lincolnshire Tourism Award as we nominated our brilliant volunteer Hazel.

“You'll often find her tending the fantastic cottage garden and making space for wildlife down our parking bay on East Road.

“This is just one of many ways we'd like to say thank you.”

Finalists in 14 categories were put forward because judges found they had best added to Lincolnshire’s tourism offer.

Charlotte Goy, chief executive of Destination Lincolnshire, said: “Created to shine a light on businesses across the county, the Destination Lincolnshire Tourism Excellence Awards celebrate every aspect of the visitor economy.

“I'm thrilled to see so many fantastic businesses from across Greater Lincolnshire shortlisted in this year's celebration of tourism.

“I truly hope to see more of our incredible Lincolnshire businesses represented on the national stage at next year's VisitEngland's Awards for Excellence.”

The awards ceremony will take place in October.