Entries have opened for Cornwall's "Tourism Oscars" - the Cornwall Tourism Award, and for the first time, applications must be made online.

The Awards, now in their sixth successful year, are organised by Cornwall Enterprise's VisitCornwall service to draw attention to the best in Cornish tourism, and encourage local businesses to keep raising their own standards.

Cornish companies have until Friday, July 6 to enter one of the fifteen award categories, covering all aspects of local tourism, in order to be in with a chance of winning.

Tony Hall of VisitCornwall said; "The Cornwall Tourism Awards are a great way of keeping the county squarely at the forefront of tourism in the UK. They not only maintain awareness among potential visitors, but also demonstrate the uniqueness, quality and huge variety of experience Cornwall can offer, over and above what people might traditionally expect.

"This broadening of Cornwall's tourist profile is great news, both for the county as a whole and, of course, for the individual companies who are nominated. With such a wide choice of categories, we're looking forward to receiving strong entries from companies of all shapes and sizes, throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly."

The 2006 Awards saw Bob Lindo of Bodmin's Camel Valley Vineyard recognised with an Award for Outstanding Services to Tourism, as his company continued its impressive track record in the Cornish Distinctiveness category.

Rob Constant's Bude-based company, Cornwall Classic Car Hire, has used the awards as an improvement benchmark, consistently raising its game year-on-year to be named Leisure Pursuit of the Year on three consecutive occasions. He agrees that local tourist companies of all descriptions should put themselves forward.

This year sees an additional first for the awards, as the whole application process is completed online, in three easy stages. By visiting the awards website link below, companies can view the rules and criteria, enter immediately, in any of the categories