Barrington Coast, the tourism brand of MidCoast Council, has won two gold awards at the 2022 NSW Tourism Awards held at Sydney’s Luna Park, celebrating outstanding resilience, innovation and creativity in what has been a challenging few years for the industry.
The awards won by Barrington Coast were the Local Government Award for Tourism category – recognises excellence in tourism planning, tourism facilities and services, marketing, event development and the overall contribution made both locally and to the NSW tourism industry – and the Tourism Marketing and Campaigns category, recognising creativity and innovation in the promotion of tourism products, services or destinations.
MidCoast Council Mayor, Claire Pontin, said Council is thrilled to have won these awards for the second year running.
“I congratulate our destination management team on their persistence, passion and teamwork,” Mayor Pontin said.
Destination Barrington Coast was joined by other local tourism businesses as winners and finalists in the 2022 awards.
Sea Horse Diamond Beach won bronze for Excellence in Accessible Accommodation and was a finalist in Self-contained Accommodation.
Donna Carrier from Bent on Food, Wingham won the Dean Gorddard Award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism by an Individual, while Bent On Food won silver for Excellence in Food Tourism and Aussie Ark in Barrington Tops won bronze in Tourist Attractions.
These successful businesses are already multi-award winners in NSW Tourism Awards, plus other national awards including Australian Small Business Awards and Australian Regional Business Awards.
Sea Horse Diamond Beach also won Bronze at the international Stevie Awards in Las Vegas for Social Change Maker of the Year in Disability earlier in November.
MidCoast Council’s Destination Management Coordinator, Sharon Bultitude, praised the contributions of key consultants Destination Marketing Store, Leonards Advertising and Fred and Co.
“We’d like to congratulate all the finalists who were able to navigate lockdowns and restricted travel to continue to attract domestic visitors and build new visitor experiences,” Ms Bultitude said.
The NSW Tourism Awards are presented by Business NSW in partnership with the New South Wales Government and Destination NSW. This was the first time in two years that a non-virtual award ceremony was held, showcasing the State’s most outstanding tourism operators.
As the New South Wales winner for the Tourism Marketing and Campaigns Award, MidCoast Council will now go on to the national awards in March 2023.
“These fantastic results provide a strong base from which to move forward and support the sustainable growth of the local tourism industry for years to come,” Mayor Pontin said.
“It’s wonderful to see both our Destination brand and local tourism businesses so well represented at this year’s awards.
“Congratulations to all winners and finalists.”
Featured image: Two gold awards for MidCoast Council at the NSW Tourism Awards 2022. Image: MidCoast Council.
