Crikey! Winton’s dinosaur attraction takes out top tourism gong

THE Australian Age of Dinosaur wins big over the weekend in front of a home crowd.

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History near Winton took out the Major Tourist Attraction at the 2019 Outback Tourism Awards.

WHILE it hosted the 2019 Outback Queensland Tourism Symposium Awards over the weekend, one of Winton’s renowned attractions won a top tourism gong.

The Australian Age of Dinosaurs picked up two awards in front of a home crowd for Major Tourist Attraction and their eco-tourism project.

Meanwhile, over 200 tourism representatives gathered in the outback Queensland town across three days to celebrate the Year of Outback Tourism.

Awards in 15 categories were granted to a range of outback tourism operators, supporters and government counterparts for their efforts over the past year.

Chief executive officer of Outback Queensland Tourism Association Denise Brown was pleased to see the outback Queensland tourism industry come together to celebrate each other’s success.

“The winners of the tourism awards have gone above and beyond to provide outstanding service to the outback Queensland tourism industry and deserve to be commended for their support,” she said.

“The future attractions under way with the Queensland Government Infrastructure Grants Program will create healthy and wonderful competition in future award years … we are galvanising our outback region tremendously.”

The McKinlay Shire celebrated a winning streak, with its Julia Creek Visitor Information Centre taking out its third consecutive win in its respective category.

Also, Outback Aussie Tours, Cobbold Gorge, Goldfields Hotel in Forsayth and Outback Pioneers were all recognised for their continual commitment to provide exceptional visitor experiences, and therefore inducted into the Hall of Fame on the night.

Karumba’s new Barramundi Centre was awarded the New Tourism Business winner. Big Red Bash took out the Festival and Events category for the second time in a row, proving that the event has become a powerhouse in the Queensland event calendar.

The Vince Evert Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism was given to Blackall identity Stewart Benson.

It was Benson’s continued immense pride for his ­hometown and passion for sharing knowledge with travellers at Blackall’s Ram Park Precinct and Riverside Camping Grounds which resulted in him being the 2019 award recipient.

Visitors to Outback Queensland were put in the judging seat in 2019, having their say on their Outback Queensland holiday favourites.

Saltbush Retreat won Best Outback Stay, Outback Pioneers took home Best Outback Experience and the Wellshot Hotel was awarded Best Outback Pub.

The Charleville region won Best Outback Region.