The Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa in St Andrews has been busy harvesting awards lately. Among its recent ones was joining the Platinum Circle of Conde Nast Traveler because the hotel made the magazine’s gold list for five consecutive years. The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh was on the Gold List. The resort was also included – as the sole Scottish destination – in the exclusive Travel & Leisure’s Top 500 Worldwide Resorts.

Meanwhile the search is on for Scotland’s own hospitality heroes, with entries being invited for the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2013. They recognise excellence across 17 different categories, including nine food and drink taste awards; Scottish Food & Drink Entrepreneur and Export Business of the Year. The winners will be revealed in May.