Tourism winners prove Tassie pioneers are ‘ahead of the pack’

Roaring 40s Kayaking and Coal River Farm are two of this year’s Tasmanian Tourism Award winners who will take their brands to compete at a national level next year.

Tourism award winners Jenny Grundy from Roaring 40s Kayaking and Mel Leesong from Coal Valley Farm sharing a coffee after a big night at last night’s awards at Wrest Point Casino. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

The rest of Australia is now looking to Tasmanian tourism to “see how things are done”, Senator Jonathan Duniam says.

The Federal Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism, speaking the morning after the Tasmanian Tourism Awards ceremony at Wrest Point, said the state was a pioneer and “breaking new ground” when it came to new and exciting visitor experiences.

“We are way ahead of the pack when it comes to promoting our state,” he said.

“Ten or 15 years ago, who thought of Tasmania as a tourism destination? No-one. People all want to come here now, even in our winter months you can hardly find a hotel room or book a flight to this place because it’s so popular.”

Jenny Grundy, who owns Roaring 40s Kayaking, said tourism growth in Tasmania over the past few years since she’d moved to the state in 2011 had been “quite incredible”.

The company, which runs hiking tours including a seven-day expedition in the state’s southwest, won the Adventure Tourism category.

“It feels like Tassie is a different place to when we moved here, and it’s pretty special to be involved in that change,” she said.

She said tourists were coming to Tasmania because “they were looking for something different”.

“They’re looking to get out of their normal days and get out into the wilderness, into the trees, into the ocean and do something they can’t do at home.”

Daniel Leesong, co-founder of Coal River Farm, said his team was thrilled to win the Excellence in Food Tourism category.

“We’ve got a really passionate team of world-class cheesemakers, chocolatiers, farmers, chefs, that all come together and this is recognition for them and the work that they do,” he said.

Mr Leesong said Tasmania was on a “trajectory” of success nationally, particularly in food and eco-tourism.

“We can use the very best raw produce and make the very best products on the other end and we’re really doing it for love rather than mass-produced rubbish,” he said.

The 24 award winners were announced at a ceremony hosted by AFL legend Matthew Richardson and radio presenter Lucy Breaden on Friday night.

Each of the gold medallists will now go on to represent Tasmania in their category in the national Australian Tourism awards in March.