Following the success of the inaugural Top Tourism Town Awards in 2021, NSW Tourism Industry Council is now calling for nominations for New South Wales’ Top Tourism Towns across three categories with a new Tiny Tourism Town category added for 2022.
The Top Tourism Town Awards showcase the value of tourism and the visitor economy to the cities, towns and villages across NSW and celebrates their commitment to encouraging tourism and increasing visitation to their destinations, providing economic and social benefits to their communities.
“The Top Tourism Town Awards will shine a light on the towns, people, attractions and experiences that make NSW a ‘must visit’ destination,” said NSW Minister for Tourism, Stuart Ayres.
“NSW is open for business and welcoming visitors, which is great news for regional towns and communities that rely on the visitor economy to support local businesses,” Mr Ayres said.
“The Awards will recognise excellence and the collaboration between businesses and local stakeholders to increase the appeal of NSW towns from country to coast.
“As we’ve identified in the Visitor Economy Strategy 2030, regional towns play an important role in attracting visitation and visitor spend to NSW, and I encourage all tourism towns to enter the Awards.”
“The Top Tourism Town Awards recognise communities that collaborate to make their town the best destination it can be. Groups such as Local Chambers of Commerce, Tourism Associations, Councils, Visitor Information Centres or motivated groups of local operators can collaborate and showcase their town as a great visitor destination,” said NSW Tourism Industry Council Executive Manager, Greg Binskin.
“The 2021 Awards featured more than 50 towns with Mudgee (over 5,000) and Berrima (under 5,000) taking out top honours in NSW and going on to represent the state at the national awards with a clean sweep after being crowned Australia’s Top and Small Tourism Town respectively, competing against top destinations across the country such as Noosa, Queensland and Port Fairy, Victoria.
“2021 entrants told us the program helped bring together the community and businesses and show their pride whilst assisting with future collaboration. It gave towns the opportunity to embrace their local identity and spotlight their special place in NSW”, Mr Binskin said.
“Winning the NSW Top Tourism Town (in the 5,000+ population category) was a real coup for Mudgee, this accolade received a tremendous media response which further enhanced destination awareness and visitor conversion. It brought us great joy after an incredibly challenging but rewarding few years to bring this award home”, said Cara George, Former CEO, Mudgee Region Tourism.
There are three categories within the NSW Top Tourism Town program:
- Top Tourism Town – suited to established tourism towns where a range of attractions, accommodation and visitor experiences already exist, particularly those with a population over 5,000 people.
- Small Tourism Town – suited to towns which are in the process of establishing a tourism strategy and developing visitor experiences, particularly those with a population below 5,000 people.
- Tiny Tourism Town – for emerging towns in the process of establishing a visitor strategy and developing their tourist offerings, with a population less than 1,500 people. (*New category in 2022)
Winners in each category will be announced in partnership with Local Government NSW at the LGNSW Destination & Visitor Economy Conference to be held 17 – 19 May 2022 in Orange.
Key dates
Wednesday 23 February: Nominations Open (expression of interest to enter)
Wednesday 9 March, 5pm: Nomination Deadline
Wednesday 6 April, 5pm: Submission Deadline
Wednesday 13 April: Finalists announced
Wednesday 13 April (9am) & Wednesday 27 April (5pm): Public voting
Wednesday 18 May: NSW Winners announced
For further information and key dates visit: www.businessnsw.com/top-tourism-town-awards-2022
