WAKEFIELD.- Yorkshire Sculpture Park has been shortlisted for two White Rose Awards - the biggest tourism awards in the UK.

YSP has made it through to the final of the Large Visitor Attraction and Arts & Culture categories, the latter for the 2011 Jaume Plensa exhibition.

As one of the world’s leading open air galleries, Yorkshire Sculpture Park is an international centre for modern and contemporary art inspired by the natural beauty of the historic 18th Century Bretton Estate. With a changing programme of exhibitions and a dynamic line up of events and activities throughout the year, each season brings something new to discover.

2011 was one of the Park’s most successful years on record with a 40% increase in visitor numbers (up to more than 350,000 people) and an overwhelmingly positive public response to a major exhibition by Spanish artist Plensa.

The nominations build on YSP’s recent accolades: last year the Park was voted Yorkshire’s ‘Most Magnificent Attraction’ by the public, beating off competition from over 100 other attractions across the region, and the Park won bronze at the 2012 Visit England Awards for Excellence in the Business Tourism category.

Winners will be announced at the glittering ceremony on 1 October 2012 at Elland Road's Centenary Pavilion in Leeds.

Winners of each category will not only scoop one of these prestigious accolades, but they are also entered into the national tourism awards next year.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "YSP is one of our most prestigious cultural attractions and having something of this calibre in the county really helps to set Yorkshire apart from other destinations in the UK and Europe.

"Making it to the shortlist is a huge achievement in itself and they have had to contend with some real quality competition. It's always a close run thing, but there's every chance YSP could go on and win one of these prestigious White Rose Awards."