The Outdoor Industries Association (OIA), in association with the Outdoor Trade Show (OTS) and The Telegraph Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show, has launched the new UK Outdoor Industry Awards, which are now open to entries from brands across the UK outdoor industry.

The new awards replace the existing OTS Novel Awards, and encompass the whole outdoor industry, creating the ultimate outdoor awards with a combination of trade and consumer elements. All products entered for the UK Outdoor Industry Awards will be initially showcased at OTS in September (15th – 17th) 2015, where a panel of expert judges will select four finalists from each category, to be announced at the Outdoor Trade Social on the second day of the show.

The finalists in each of the ten categories will then be displayed for consumers to see and vote for their favourite products at The Telegraph Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show in February (11th – 14th) 2016, which will provide exposure to a potential 50,000 customers. In addition, the Telegraph newspaper will promote the awards to its broader readership and use the huge reach of their social media to generate consumer interest.

Finally, the winners of each category will be officially announced and congratulated at the AGM gala dinner during the OIA Conference on 16th March 2016, which will be taking place at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate.

OIA CEO, Andrew Denton, comments: “These newly launched awards present a fantastic opportunity for brands to not only gain recognition across the outdoor trade, but for the successful products to be directly promoted to consumers. As the UK’s trade body for the outdoor industry, we are well positioned to manage the new awards from start to finish – with the overall winners being announced at our annual conference in March. It’s great to be working in association with OTS and the consumer Outdoor Show to ultimately find and promote the best new outdoor products to the whole of the UK.”

OTS Organiser, Marta Williams, comments: “We are very pleased to be working with the OIA and the Telegraph Outdoor Show to create the new UK Outdoor Industry Awards, which present a unique opportunity for brands to gain recognition in the outdoor industry. With not only the outdoor trade, but outdoor consumers also contributing to the voting, I would urge brands to enter their best products and innovations as soon as possible to gain maximum exposure.”

Steve Clark, Group Show Director, Telegraph Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show comments: “As the organisers of the largest consumer event which celebrates the great outdoors, we’re excited to be part of the new UK Outdoor Industry Awards. Brands will be able to gain recognition from both the trade and also the most important of all, the end users of the products. We are passionate about all that is outdoors and very much looking forward to showcasing the category finalists at the Telegraph Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show next February and joining you all to revere in the winners achievements at the OIA Conference in March 2016.”

The categories of the UK Outdoor Industry Awards include Accessories, Backpacks/Travel Luggage/Bags, Camping Equipment, Climbing Equipment, Clothing, Footwear, Sleeping, and Tents/Awnings, Family Products, Digital Products.

The cost to enter a product into the new UK Outdoor Industry Awards is £160 per entry for OIA Members, OTS 2015 exhibitors and Telegraph Outdoor Show 2016 exhibitors. The cost for any non-members/non-exhibitors will be £200.

For further information about the UK Outdoor Industry Awards and to download the entry form, please visit www.outdoorindustriesassociation.co.uk/awards.