Tourism professionals recently gathered for the 2014 QantasLink Hunter/Central Coast Awards for Excellence in Tourism. The awards ceremony and gala dinner celebrated the industry’s leading contributors and recognised the high standards of the Hunter and Central Coast tourism industries.
The chair of judges, Dr Tamara Young, said that they were pleased to witness the broad scope of excellence in the Hunter and Central Coast regions.
“On behalf of the judges, I would like to congratulate the finalists of the 2014 Awards. The outstanding quality of the submissions is testament to the commitment of our finalists to the delivery of high quality tourism products and services, as well as their dedication to high standards of professionalism in the tourism industry.”
56 finalists from 45 individual companies were aiming for Gold across 22 Categories.
Visitor Economy Hunter’s Director, Roger Stephan, said that they saw a mix of new and repeat winners this year in the Awards.
“It really showed the strength and growing diversity of tourism in the Hunter and Central Coast,” Roger said.
“Given the quality of entries received achieving finalist status is in itself a great achievement. All the businesses and individuals honoured on the night ‚Äì especially the category winners ‚Äì can be truly proud of their contribution and industry standing.”
All of the Gold Award Winners will now go on to become finalists in the 25th Annual State Tourism Awards, to be held in Sydney on Thursday, 27 November 2014.
Winners list
- Tourist Attractions
- Festivals and Events
Snow Time in the Garden, Hunter Valley Gardens
- Ecotourism
- Heritage & Cultural Tourism
- Indigenous Tourism
- Visitor Information and Services
Singleton Visitor Information and Enterprise Centre
- Business Tourism
Chateau Elan at The Vintage Hunter Valley
- Tour and/or Transport Operators
All Australian Journeys
- Adventure Tourism
State Forests of the Watagan Mountains | Forestry Corporation of NSW
- Destination Marketing
Cruise Hunter 2014 | Cruise Prospectus; Share the Secret of Newcastle
- Tourism Restaurants and Catering Services
- Tourism Wineries, Distilleries and Breweries
- Tourist and Caravan Parks
- Hosted Accommodation
- Unique Accommodation
Golden Door Health Retreat & Spa Elysia
- Deluxe Accommodation
- Luxury Accommodation
Chateau Elan at The Vintage Hunter Valley
- Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism
- Excellence in Food Tourism
- Young Achiever in Tourism Award
Gemma der Kinderen
- Outstanding Contribution by an individual to local tourism
Kevin Doherty | Upper Hunter Country Tourism
Tars Bylhouwer | Destination Port Stephens
Sponsors of the night continue to support the vibrant local tourism industry and include:
- Event Naming Sponsor: QantasLink
- Venue: The West Group
- Graphic Design and Production
- Out of the Square Media
- Event Production: Big Bang Events
- Theming: The Event House
- Printing: NCP Printing
- Entertainment: Commonwealth Bank
- Beer: Coopers
- Wine: Bimbadgen Hunter Valley, Margan, de iuliis and Wyndham Estate
Image thanks to AJM Photography
