Tasmanian Tourism Awards Finalists Announced

Published on : Wednesday, October 9, 2013

A record number of 100 Tasmanian tourism operators have been chosen as finalists in the 2013 Tasmanian Tourism Awards.
The Minister for Tourism, Scott Bacon today congratulated the finalists across 26 categories and said that the state’s tourism industry is being recognised world-wide for its quality experiences.
“These awards recognise and acknowledge those operators who run outstanding businesses and events and ensure that tourists have a positive experience when they visit our State.
“There is great resilience in the tourism industry which is made up of operators, both small and large.
They have been through challenging times and their efforts are now paying off,” he said.
Mr Bacon said that Tasmania has amongst the best tourism operators in Australia and as a result Tasmania is riding the crest of a tourism wave right now.
“More visitors are coming to Tasmania than ever before and business confidence for tourism operators is sitting at an all-time high.
“Our cooperative marketing agreements with the airlines demonstrate the importance of air access to Tasmania and the launch of Tourism Tasmania’s highly successful Go Behind the Scenery campaign has been an important factor in our record visitor numbers.
“Many of our premier tourist experiences and events have been selected as this year’s finalists.
“These include: Barnbougle Dunes & Barnbougle Lost Farm, Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Boags, Dark Mofo, Ten Days on the Island. The Falls Music and Arts Festival and the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2013,” Mr Bacon said.
The Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Luke Martin added that the Tasmanian Tourism Awards have gone from strength-to-strength over the past three years on the back of Tasmania’s outstanding success at the past two Australian Tourism Awards, where Tasmanian tourism operators have won more awards than Queensland & Victoria.
“This is a record number of Tasmanian operators who have been judged to meet the national industry benchmark for innovation, excellence, and creativity in tourism.
“Preparing a quality submission required operators to invest considerable resources and energy and each of the 100 finalists had earned the respect of their industry colleagues in progressing this far.
“A particular highlight of this year’s awards is that Tasmania has two finalists in the indigenous tourism category,” he said.
Mr Martin said that this is the first time in about 15 years that Tasmania will have a finalist at the Australian Tourism Awards in Indigenous Tourism, and its important Tasmania takes its rightful place in this important sector for Australian tourism.
“Congratulations to the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service for their Needwonnee Walk experience at Meleleuca, and the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery for their new Tasmanian Aboriginals Exhibition Space, for leading Tasmania’s engagement in this space,” Mr Martin said.
The winners will be announced at the 2013 Tasmanian Tourism Awards Gala, to be held at Wrest Point on the 8 November with the State winners going on to represent Tasmania at the Australian Tourism Awards in Sydney in February.