On November 30, the state’s leaders in tourism excellence came together for a spectacular gala event at Palladium Crown in celebration of the businesses and individuals who are delivering ongoing excellence in Victoria’s tourism sector.
Now in its 37th year, the Victorian Tourism Awards play a vital role in connecting businesses and encouraging collaboration, professionalism and innovation. The culmination of a year-round process, they provide an opportunity to pay tribute to all the tourism operators, experienced industry identities, volunteers and support workers who deliver ongoing excellence in the visitor economy.
Around 900 industry identities from across the state were in attendance for the event, which was hosted by broadcaster Hamish McLachlan. The proceedings kicked off with a Welcome to Country, and featured speeches by VTIC Chief Executive, Felicia Mariani and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos MP.
Winners were crowned in 28 major categories, including cultural tourism, unique accommodation, festivals and events, visitor information services and adventure tourism. The 40-person judging panel – comprising a cross-section of tourism industry professionals, and former award winners – also awarded three individual excellence categories.
It was a momentous evening for the teams behind the Geelong Gallery, Bendigo Visitor Centre and Searoad Ferries, which all claimed Hall of Fame status after winning gold in the same category for three consecutive years. This year’s event also saw the introduction of Excellence in Accessible Tourism as a national category. Its winner, Accessible Accommodation, will be the first to compete for this award at the Australian Tourism Awards, which are taking place in Darwin on March 15, 2024.
These awards are delivered by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, and supported by a number of partners, including Presenting Partner, City of Melbourne; Platinum Partner, Visit Victoria; and Gold Partner, Melbourne Airport. For more information on the event, head to the VTIC website. For the full list of finalists and winners, see here.