Qantas Australian Tourism Awards: Victoria, Tasmania are big winners

Cool operators with a food and wine focus take tourism’s top gongs.

The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel, Hobart. Picture: Supplied

Victoria and Tasmania were the big winners at last night’s Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in Melbourne. They picked up 17 of the 26 awards between them, including Major Tourist Attraction for Victoria’s Sovereign Hill and the Tourist Attraction prize for Tasmania’s Bruny Island Cruises.

The awards come at the beginning of what promises to be an interesting year for the tourism sector. At the same time as tourism chiefs tout the number of Chinese visitors surpassing one million over the last year, the Chinese economy is slowing. On the other hand, a low Australian dollar should herald increased visitor numbers from other markets and see more Australians decide to holiday at home. Bearing this in mind, the sector is priming itself for a bumper year.

A strong food and wine theme runs through many of this year’s awards. Winners range from Pizzini Wines ­Cellar Door in Victoria’s King Valley and the Green Olive at Red Hill on the ­Mornington Peninsula to the Stockmans Restaurant at The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel in Hobart, which won best Deluxe Accommodation.

The hotel, which prides itself on ­showcasing the best in Tasmanian ­produce and wine, also picked up the award for Business Event Venue.

Luxury river cruising and tour operator APT owner Geoff McGeary was named Australian Tourism Legend.

Bruny Island Cruises, led by Rob Pennicott, not only focuses on coastal and aquatic experiences but also puts Tasmanian produce front and centre. Since 1999, the cruise has brought more than 300,000 visitors to Bruny Island for a world-class journey along the coastline. Guests float past towering dolerite spires, caves and some of the highest cliffs in the southern ­hemisphere in custom-built yellow boats, while sea birds wheel overhead, ­dolphins swim alongside and thousands of seals lounge on the rocks.

At Pizzini Wines, founders Alfredo and Katrina Pizzini focus on the marriage between food and wine. Alfredo mans the cellar door while Katrina runs the family’s popular A Tavola! Cooking School. Top Drop Tours in the ­Margaret River, winners of the Tour and Transport Operator award for the second consecutive year, run small group tours to some of the nation’s top vineyards coupled with a delicious ­vineyard lunch. Owners Chris and Kerry O’Hare put the emphasis on fun and food as they showcase their favourite part of the world.

Another coastal/aquatic experience that provides a special food and wine experience is Ecotourism winner ­Tasmanian Walking Co. The company operates three tours including a Bay of Fires Walk, Cradle Mountain Walk and Wineglass Bay Sail Walk. The four-day Sail Walk stages daily expeditions into the pristine coastal wilderness of Maria Island and Wineglass Bay, with nightly feasts aboard the 23m ketch Lady Eugenie. Meals highlight local produce such as prawns, salmon, and oysters as well as a solid selection of Tasmanian wines.

Luxury accommodation winner Drift House on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road at Port Fairy is a bluestone ­homestead built in 1875 with an award-winning addition. It is the dream made real for owners John Watkinson and ­Colleen Guiney, who have created a funky regional bolthole.

Away from the coast, another big winner last night was Sovereign Hill at Ballarat. One of the nation’s most-loved attractions, the outdoor museum picked up the award for Major Tourist Attraction. Covering 25ha of a former gold mining site, Sovereign Hill brings the gold rush to life through a living township filled with costumed characters, 1850s-style shops, schools and dwellings. Visitors can descend into a mine, take a coach ride or watch liquid “gold” being poured into ingots.

Also in Victoria, the Enchanted Adventure Garden on the Mornington Peninsula is the Adventure Tourism winner. Hedge mazes, a bush obstacle course and tree surfing on zip lines in the forest canopy cater for all comers.

In NSW, Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, which won the Unique Accommodation Award, offers another exciting family experience. The recently refurbished Zoofari Lodge offers the chance to stay overnight on the “savannah” overlooking giraffe and zebra in safari-style accommodation. This investment in innovation and improving the visitor experience is a common story among winners and a reflection of the sector’s bullish outlook for 2016 and beyond.

Federal Tourism Minister Richard Colbeck says strong growth is predicted in the sector over the next ­decade, with the industry on track to reach the ­target of between $115 billion and $140 billion in overnight visitor expenditure by 2020 (from $107 billion in 2014-15).

Tourism Australia managing ­director John O’Sullivan says 2015 was a stellar year for the industry. “With our Restaurant Australia ­campaign delivering such strong results in the past 12 months, it’s great to see food and wine playing such an integral part in the businesses of so many of this year’s award winners.”

O’Sullivan says the latest chapter of Tourism Australia’s global marketing campaign “There’s Nothing Like ­Australia”, with global brand ­ambassador and Hollywood heart-throb Chris Hemsworth, will renew the focus on Australia’s aquatic and coastal experiences.

And the Australian Tourism Award winners are:

Major Tourist Attractions

Sovereign Hill, VIC

Port Arthur Historic Site, TAS

Taronga Zoo, NSW

Tourist Attractions

Bruny Island Cruises, TAS

Questacon, ACT

Daintree Discovery Centre, QLD

Major Festivals & Events

2014 Melbourne Cup Carnival, VIC

Floriade 2014, ACT

MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2015, TAS

Festivals & Events

Fun4Kids Festival, VIC

Boggabri Drovers Campfire, NSW

2015 National Folk Festival, ACT

Ecotourism

The Tasmanian Walking Co, TAS

Sail Ningaloo — Overnight Sailing Tours, WA

Sea Darwin Eco Cruises, NT

Cultural Tourism

Venture North Australia, NT

Port Arthur Historic Site, TAS

Bendigo Tramways, VIC

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tourism

Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, NT

Arakwal Dolphin Dreaming Cape Byron State Conservation Area, NSW

Koomal Dreaming, WA

Specialised Tourism Services

Canberra Airport, ACT

Cruisin’ Motorhomes, TAS

Leisure Options, VIC

Visitor Information Services

Alice Springs Visitor Information Centre, NT

Tasmanian Travel & Information Centre, TAS

Barossa Visitor Centre, SA

Business Event Venue

The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel, TAS

Alice Springs Convention Centre, NT

Chateau Elan at The Vintage, NSW

Major Tour & Transport Operators

Searoad Ferries, VIC

Reef Magic Cruises, QLD

ADAMS Pinnacle Tours, WA

Tour & Transport Operators

Top Drop Tours, WA

Ocean Safari, QLD

Uluru Camel Tours, NT

Adventure Tourism

Enchanted Adventure Garden & Tree Surfing, VIC

Uluru Camel Tours, NT

Calypso Star Charters, SA

Destination Marketing

Wine Food Farmgate, VIC

Australia’s Nature Coast, QLD

#RideNorthTas, TAS

Tourism Restaurants & Catering Services

Stillwater at Crittenden, VIC

AAT Kings Uluru BBQ Dinner, NT

Josef Chromy Wines, TAS

Tourism Wineries, Distilleries & Breweries

Pizzini Wines Cellar Door, VIC

Sandalford Wines, WA

Margan Wines, NSW

Caravan & Holiday Parks

BIG4 Deniliquin Holiday Park, NSW

BIG4 Beacon Resort, VIC

BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort, QLD

Hosted Accommodation

Curringa Farm Tours & Accommodation, TAS

HideAway Haven, WA

Eldee Station, NSW

Unique Accommodation

Taronga Western Plains Zoo, NSW

Avalon City Retreat, TAS

Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures — The Horizontal Hotel, WA

Self Contained Accommodation

Avalon Coastal Retreat, TAS

The Frames, SA

Aquabelle Apartments, VIC

Standard Accommodation

Moama on Murray Resort, NSW

Sandpiper Ocean Cottages, TAS

Cottesloe Beach Hotel, WA

Deluxe Accommodation

The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel, TAS

The Observatory Port Macquarie, NSW

Yondah Beach House, SA

Luxury Accommodation

Drift House, VIC

Saffire Freycinet, TAS

The Playford, SA

New Tourism Business

Pumphouse Point, TAS

National Anzac Centre, WA

Halcyon House, NSW

Excellence in Food Tourism

Green Olive at Red Hill, VIC

Farm Gate Market, TAS

The Lake House Denmark — Vinofoods, WA

Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism

The Observatory Port Macquarie, NSW

The Tasmanian Walking Company, TAS

Fun Over 50, QLD

Australian Tourism Legend

Geoff McGeary