Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) has announced the winners of Victoria’s inaugural Top Tourism Town Awards with Ballarat and Port Fairy taking top honours for 2021.
Ballarat was named Victoria’s Top Tourism Town (population over 5,000), while Port Fairy took out the top spot to win Top Small Tourism Town Award (population under 5000).
Lakes Entrance took the Silver Award for Top Tourism Town, followed closely by Bendigo which was awarded Bronze. For the Top Small Tourism Town category, Timboon was awarded Silver and Apollo Bay achieved Bronze recognition.
The Top Tourism Town Awards are a new initiative under the Victorian and Australian Tourism Awards process. Hosted by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), the awards recognise and celebrate towns that excel in providing an outstanding visitor experience.
VTIC said it was pleased to see 30 destinations nominated for the prestigious position, with 22 outstanding finalists from across the state ultimately competing for the top awards.
VTIC’s Chief Executive, Felicia Mariani, said it was a great time to showcase the diverse regional destinations Victoria has and the economic impact tourism brings to these towns.
“With all the industry has endured over the past 18 months, this is a perfect time for us to acknowledge and celebrate all that our regional towns and centres have done to deliver compelling experiences to their visitors,” Ms Mariani said.
“The visitor economy is an intrinsic part of the fabric of our regional communities all across the state and is a key driver of the economic performance of our regional areas. These awards are the perfect way to recognise the critical role that our industry plays in the vibrancy of regional Victoria.”
The two Victorian Gold Winners will go on to compete for the title of Australia’s Top Tourism Town, which will be announced at Parliament House in Canberra on 2 September 2021.
“VTIC would like to congratulate all the finalists in this year’s awards. This has been an incredibly challenging year for everyone in our industry and achieving finalist status is a real testament to the passion and commitment of Victoria’s regional destinations,” Ms Mariani said.
See the full list of finalists at: https://www.vtic.com.au/toptourismtown
