Tasmanian tourism the best in the country

Tasmania’s domination on the national stage is due recognition for our excellent tourism industry, which delivers inspiring and inviting experiences that we can now proudly call the best in the country.

Tasmania’s sweeping success at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards affirms what more and more travellers have been fast catching on to; Tasmania is a must see destination.

Our top tourism operators won an unprecedented 10 gold awards from 29 categories at the awards in Adelaide overnight, as well as three silver and three bronze awards.

Tasmania’s domination on the national stage is a testament to our tourism industry, which has worked hard to deliver inspiring, wondrous and inviting experiences that we all can now proudly call the best in the country.

This national acclaim is also incredible advertisement for our state, and will inspire even more travellers to want to head south to Tasmania.

We have such unique experiences to offer the world, from Par Avion’s air adventures into our unique World Heritage Area to the new gastronomical delights of Rob Pennicott’s Tasmanian Seafood Seduction.

I congratulate each and every one of our winners, and thank them for putting Tasmania on the map. The gold medal winners include:

• Port Arthur Historic Site, Major Tourist Attraction Category and Heritage Tourism Category;
• Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel, Business Events Category;
• Par Avion Wilderness Tours, Major Tour and Transport Operators Category;
• Kingthing Marketing, Education and Training Category;
• Bruny Island Cruises, Regional Tourist Attraction Category and EcoTourism Business Category;
• Tasmanian Seafood Seduction, Best New Tourism Development Category;
• Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism; and
• Rob Pennicott, Australian Tourism Legend.

Special congratulations to Rob Pennicott on becoming only the second Tasmanian to receive Legend status, the industry’s highest individual honour.

Rob’s ingenuity and authenticity has drawn so many travellers from across the world to share in his love for our island, and this award for Rob and his team is well deserved

Our Government has an ambitious plan to attract more than 1.5 million visitors to our state every year by 2020, and tonight’s accolades father catapult the industry towards this target.

• Scott Bacon: Toasting Tasmania’s tourism success stories

• Dr John R Wilson, in Comments: Will Hodgman, your government will probably go down as one of the worst we’ve ever had because of its dominant 1950s mind-set that nature-based tourism can co-exist comfortably alongside industrial logging, mining and other inappropriate activities inside the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, which is the biggest international drawcard we have. That our tourism industry does as well as it does on the national stage is not because of such appallingly backward anti-environment leadership but in spite of it.